Just because you're smart, doesn't mean that you don't harass people at work. Richard Feynman was a brilliant man, but was utterly horrible to the women he worked with.
Every company that's large enough has a few people participating in unintentional, or highly intentional harassment.
What you should judge companies on, is how they deal with it - especially when the perpetrator is not some middle-manager, but a rockstar.
In his biography of Feynman, Lawrence Krauss apparently details incidents in which Feynman had affairs with his colleagues' wives, and even pretended to be a student to chase co-eds. Some biographers have suggested (but not justified) that Feynman's behavior is partly due to the loss of his young wife.
The charming side of Richard helped people forgive him for his uncharming characteristics. For example, in many ways Richard was a sexist. Whenever it came time for his daily bowl of soup he would look around for the nearest "girl" and ask if she would fetch it to him. It did not matter if she was the cook, an engineer, or the president of the company. I once asked a female engineer who had just been a victim of this if it bothered her. "Yes, it really annoys me," she said. "On the other hand, he is the only one who ever explained quantum mechanics to me as if I could understand it." That was the essence of Richard's charm.
But he also describes a lot of his attitudes toward women in Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman, and by modern standards they would basically fall into the PUA/RedPill category.
I found that link before asking, and I read SYJMF, but neither actually talk about female coworkers, hence wondering if there was something more than I had missed. I have no intention of defending (or attacking) Feynman, I was merely curious.
> Just because you're smart, doesn't mean that you don't harass people at work.
I think the point was "how could smart people be so stupid at managing this sort of situation in a way that won't blow up in their faces later down the line".
Anecdotal evidence would suggest that "really smart" people have some lacking in other areas most commonly social skills. It can be tough working alongside this kind of person when they constantly think they are working with "lesser" people whether that's based on knowledge/skill or race/sex.
Every company that's large enough has a few people participating in unintentional, or highly intentional harassment.
What you should judge companies on, is how they deal with it - especially when the perpetrator is not some middle-manager, but a rockstar.