An employment lawyer has revealed what could happen to Astronomer's head of HR after the Coldplay video scandal.
What began as a lighthearted moment during a Coldplay concert has now unraveled into a full-blown workplace scandal, professional crisis, and potential legal nightmare for a rising tech company.
The scene played out Wednesday evening in front of 55,000 fans near Boston.
During a segment of Coldplay’s concert at Gillette Stadium, lead singer Chris Martin launched into his routine of serenading unsuspecting fans caught on the venue’s kiss cam.
What looked like just another awkward couple’s moment instantly became a social media wildfire when the camera zoomed in on Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and head of HR Kristin Cabot.
The CEO appeared startled by the spotlight and quickly pulled away. Cabot turned her back to the screen.
And then came Martin’s now-infamous comment: "Oh, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy."
Adding another layer of controversy is Cabot’s title - head of human resources - making her central to policy enforcement and workplace conduct.
“It’s horrible because she is the head of HR! She’s involved in an extramarital affair with the CEO. Basically, how much worse of an HR faux pas could you commit?” said employment lawyer William Cafaro, co-counsel at Buzin Law, in a statement to The New York Post.
“The only way it could be worse is if the head of HR was having an affair with someone who worked for her. That’s the only permutation I could think of that could be worse — but this is pretty high up there.”
Whether or not the relationship violates Astronomer’s internal policies, Cafaro added that Cabot’s position now seems untenable: “I would say she’s just about certain to be removed from her position, because how can you have someone in HR who is having an affair with the CEO imposing or making disciplinary decisions over any other employees. That’s ludicrous.”
As the clip spread across platforms, the company was quick to act.
In an official LinkedIn post, Astronomer confirmed: “Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted. The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO.”
And while the company’s reputation may have shifted overnight, it emphasized its ongoing focus: “Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space… While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not.
"We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems.”
So far, neither Byron nor Cabot has made a public statement, and an apology letter circulating online was confirmed as fake.