Matt Lauer had a button under his desk to lock his office door, according to this detailed report

boing
1

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/12/01/matt-lauer-had-a-button-under.html

…

1 Like
2

I heard that these buttons aren’t rare in big news rooms, as given the bustle you may occasionally want to have a quick private conversation. Lauer is a monster but the button perhaps wasn’t specific to him.

9 Likes
3

According to Sarah Haines, a current co-host on the View who started her career on the Today Show, all executives at NBC have those buttons, and she specifically mentioned the chaos and openness of the newsroom necessitating them. So Lauer may well have used the button to facilitate being awful, but the button was not installed for that purpose.

9 Likes
4

Everyone is looking for the smoking gun and it’s not a button. It’s the bag of sex toys.

5 Likes
5

Yeah. He seems like a complete shitbag, and it seems he used his button for nefarious purposes, but they’re not that uncommon. I’ve known a few HR executives who have them, so they can lock the door if a sensitive conversation comes up, without interrupting said conversation.

6 Likes
6

For fire safety reasons, I’m sure that the doors could still be opened manually from the inside.

6 Likes
7

They are common if could happen that one hat to have a private conversation, like with an attorney. You could buy them even on Amazon.

Electric strikes are also common in medical rooms, but normally the doors have also a panic bar to be opened from inside

2 Likes
8

So you’re saying that this is basically the curb-cutter effect for predators?

2 Likes
9

What a creepy f#*k this guy is.

4 Likes
10

What seems to be the question not asked is if these mechanisms actually keep the occupants locked in. If so, it almost has to be for nefarious purposes.
People bring problems to my office day and night. Our rule is door open/door closed. If the door is open, you feel free to walk right in. If it is closed, you knock or come back later.
Asking a visitor to close the door indicates to them that I intend to take their issue seriously, and give it my full attention.
I can’t imagine needing a remote lock. That is the sort of thing you see at an urban pawn shop.

8 Likes
11

“There were a lot of consensual relationships, but that’s still a problem because of the power he held…”

So, not actually what one might technically call exactly “consensual”?

6 Likes
12

So unless it was custom modified, not so much “can’t get out,” as “can’t get interrupted.”

13

Even if it could be opened from the inside, I have to wonder why a light beside the door, like a recording studio, wouldn’t be a better solution? (Better because people wouldn’t have to try the door.)

Use multi-color LEDs for added DEFCON bling.

6 Likes
14

Hey Hey hey. Thats not a smoking gun. I’ll argue my bag is bigger and filled with far more nefarious things than Matt Lauer’s is.

The smoking gun is any communication or act that is in violation of consent.

8 Likes
15

Not to tip someone off.

perhaps… someone might just snap, and then stalk from office to office with an Armalite AR-10 carbine gas-powered semi-automatic weapon, pumping round after round into colleagues and co-workers. This might be someone you’ve known for years. Someone very, very close …

Not that anyone in particular in his office would have any ill will towards Matt Lauer of all people /s

16

Never heard of this, but I’ll take your word for it. But doesn’t this fall under some kind of imprisonment rules? (I couldn’t find the correct english term for involuntary removal of freedom)

1 Like
17

That’s the way I learned it as well. If the door is even a little bit open, come in. If not, knock and wait for an answer.

2 Likes
18

Never heard that term. Thanks! “TIL” as the hip kids over on Reddit say.

19

How is just a bag of sex toys the smoking gun?
A video of interactions (I really wouldn’t be surprised if he recorded his office incidents) would seal the deal…but a bag of sex toys is just a bag of sex toys. Super weird and inappropriate to store in his office, but if he just had it sitting there, then no big deal.

If someone comes out and says he regularly handled one as a fidget toy, that’d be a good start.

3 Likes
20

While not immoral per se, the question is of course why those toys are in the workplace at all.