Sources at WXYZ in Detroit say that former Anchor Malcom Maddox would show women in the newsroom a picture of his penis and ask them to rate it on a scale of 1-10. 

The Detriot Free Press writes that at least four women complained to the Scripps station's human resources department about the pics, sources said, but Maddox never lost his job.  

But then the #metoo movement happened and despite the station doing what they could to keep Maddox on, they ended up parting ways with the Anchor. 

The sex scandal leveled Maddox's ascending career. And now, several former employees at WXYZ are speaking out about the station's climate and its handling of an explosive situation that could cost the station money and credibility. 

The Free Press spoke to five former WXYZ employees who said the station supported an unhealthy work environment that allowed Maddox to engage in inappropriate behavior and ignored staff complaints about his conduct, which included engaging in sexual activity at the station, bringing girlfriends to work when he was married and talking about things that made female coworkers uncomfortable.

WXYZ will not say whether Maddox left his jobwillingly, or was fired. 

For Edwards and many others at WXYZ, Maddox's departure was long overdue.

According to multiple former employees at WXYZ, at least four women complained to HR about Maddox in recent years, alleging he showed them cell phone photos of his penis in the newsroom. In one instance, a woman said, the response from HR was baffling. 

"Someone in HR asked, 'How do you know it's his?' " the woman recalled. "I said, 'Does it matter?'"

An investigation followed with Maddox being suspended for two weeks. That was 2015.

Two years later,late last year, the issue surfaced again when a local pastor publicly claimed that WXYZ had let Maddox get away with sexual harassment, promoting him instead of punishing him. Another investigation followed.

Maddox stayed on the air.

"We spoke up. We did what we were supposed to do and you guys slap him on the wrist and give him a promotion?" said one of Maddox's accusers, who spoke to the Free Press this week and requested anonymity. "Two times now, in the shadow of the MeToo movement, they put him right back on TV? ... I don't get it. I just don't get it."

Perhaps most egregious, former employees and lawyers argue, is that WXYZ promoted Maddox to the prestigious morning anchor spot in 2015 within weeks of learning that he had sexted women in the newsroom, including Edwards. He also is accused of sending Edwards a sexually explicit video of a woman engaged in a sex act, and spreading false rumors at the office that he and Edwards had an affair.

"They closed their eyes when it was brought to their attention and they let it go on," said Nima Shaffe, a former weekend morning anchor at WXYZ who worked there when Edwards filed her complaint with the station in 2015.

"It was ugly. Everyone was whispering. And poor Tara was put in a sense of exile. It was disgusting to watch, disgusting to see it unfold in front of you," Shaffe said. "All she did was go forward."

Shaffe, along with other former WXYZ employees, said they believe that station management turned a blind eye to Maddox's behavior because they thought "this guy was the next best thing" and that he could help improve the station's sagging ratings.

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