"Who’s hot" lists aren’t exactly a new phenomenon in the workplace. I remember at one newspaper I worked there was a list of the best-looking men scrawled in the ladies loo.

That was before the Internet though (really!)

Now "who’s hot" lists end up on Facebook or in the case of leading U.S. law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, a company blog.

Okay, so it wasn’t an official company blog. The Skadden Insider is an irreverent look at what the Wall Street Journal calls "the underbelly of life at Skadden….these Skaddenites are reporting ‘hard’ news — from the lowdown on firm
parties, to e-mail gaffes to salary discrepancies between staff
attorneys and full-time associates". And who is hot….or which female employees are hot to be precise. (Congratulations to Mattie Johnston….we think.)

The men’s competition was up next apparently but that was before the white shoe firm’s own in-house legal counsel waded in and rapped the knuckles of the Skadden Insider.

As counsel Henry Baer wrote (and the bloggers reprinted):

The Firm recognizes that blogs are prevalent in today’s culture and
that blogs about Skadden are to be expected. Nonetheless, we believe
that the "contests" on one of these blogs is inappropriate and does not
reflect our values and standards of behavior. Numerous attorneys at the
Firm have expressed their concern and, in some cases, embarrassment at
such contests. We urge the authors of the blog to consider both the
privacy and feelings of the affected attorneys and to discontinue the
contests.

The guys behind Skadden Insider can’t really see what the big fuss is about. They responded: "The contest, although sophomoric, was done all in good fun. We’re sorry
if anyone was embarassed by it. We wish you had just chuckled, rolled
your eyes or merely clicked away."

And if it had not been published on a public blog it might have stayed that way. But when Skadden makes such a point of touting its own Womens’ Initiatives on its own website then hot female employee competitions take on a whole new meaning for Skadden’s reputation.