Ellen DeGeneres wasn't fired for her show's toxic workplace. Bosses often get off easy.

For starters, working on a TV show seems considerably more exciting and glamorous.Whether it’s a toxic work environment at a personality-driven talk show or a major corporation with wage, workplace safety or sexual harassment problems, the people at the top set the tone.But we recently learned that behind the “Be Kind” exterior that DeGeneres has cultivated, there was the kind of toxic atmosphere that employees of all kinds can sadly relate to. (Amazon reportedly has treated bathroom breaks as “time off task”; it now faces a coronavirus-related lawsuit for not giving employers adequate handwashing time, among other complaints.) Though there is no legal definition for workplace toxicity, we all know it when we see it — and experience for ourselves the infighting, bullying, unrealistic goals, fear-based management and sheer disrespect it entails.Also not unique to “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” is the fact that the top dog was not the one punished. But whether it’s a toxic work environment at a personality-driven talk show or a major corporation with wage, workplace safety or sexual harassment problems, the people at the top set the tone.News reports have attributed to Ellen a comment that she had allowed the show to be run like a machine rather than seeing the staff as people.