SUMMARY

This case is related to fields of organizational behaviour, human resource management,

leadership, or business ethics. Because the case addresses several important concepts, it is
suitable for a capstone or review session.

The learning objectives include the following:

 To explore the issue of abusive supervision, its impact on employees and organizations,
and the steps that can be taken to counteract it.
 To consider the multiple bases of power within an organization.
 To discuss the importance of employee voice in organizations and understand the forces
that can inhibit or encourage this behaviour.
 To outline how perceptions of organizational justice are developed and their impact on
the workplace.
 To discuss how to recover from a negative crisis experience in an organization.
 To examine how a leader's character fields of dimensions can fuel leadership action.

In 2014, criminal charges were filed against Jian Ghomeshi as a result of events that allegedly
occurred in his personal life. While knowledge of the highly publicized trial can be used to
highlight the importance of effectively managing the workplace discord, the case discussion
focuses on workplace events. The outcome of the criminal charges is irrelevant to the case
discussion.

Parties involved in this case:

 The CBC - the "CBC" is Canada's national public broadcaster that operates both in English and
French across the country. It broadcasts programming on radio and on television.

 The events portrayed in this Report occurred in the English division of the CBC, and primarily
in radio.
People involved in this case:

Mr. Jian Ghomeshi was the former host of Q, which is a national radio program. The CBC has
made him a Canadian arts and culture star.

Management:

Arif Noorani - Q's executive-producer.

Linda Groen - The director of the network talk radio show Q.

Chris Boyce - The Executive director of CBC Radio.

Staff/Employees:

Kathryn Borel: A former Q producer. She has been sexually harassed by the CBC Radio host
Jian Ghomeshi.

Six Employees of the radio show Q held a meeting with Arif Noorani and Linda Groen to
document their complaints to the management and had been code-named “Red Sky .”

Events that occurred:

 Jian Ghomeshi was constantly late and consistently disrespectful of colleagues' time. He
would ignore them for short or lengthy periods of time if they had done something that
displeased him. Also, he yelled and doled out harsh criticism.
 Ghomeshi made comments about the appearance of some colleagues. These comments were
described as demeaning, inappropriate and unwanted.
 His behaviour consisted of sexualized conduct and comment, including physical contact that
was known or ought to have been known to be unwelcome and inappropriate.
1. Why do you think that despite having a strong culture and value system in place the CBC
organisation could not handle the grievances of their employees when Ghomeshi
mistreated them?

Answer:

 Lack of perceived leadership

 The conflict of interest presented by the union and the top down pressures from
executives
 CBC’s reliance on Ghomeshi created a conflict of interest between ratings and fostering a
healthy workplace environment.
 Structure: Lack of Authority
 Systems: Failed or underutilized formal processes
 Style: Compromized leadership operations and inappropriate accepted norms.
 Shared Values: Non-actualized values among shared purposes.
 Staffing: Lack of people development and career management.

2. What are the possible options that Groen and Noorani have, keeping in mind the risk and
possible outcomes of having Ghomeshi continue working with the organisation?

 Option 1: Take the complaints at face value and terminate his employment.
Risk: Legal backlash from Ghomeshi for wrongful dismissal
Possible Outcome: Declined ratings and failure of the show

 Option 2: Ignore the complaints to keep Ghomesi happy

Risk: Direct Violations of the Ontario Human Rights Commission
Possible Outcome: Legal penalties for Groen or Noorani, and the CBC
 Option 3: Act in accordance with the relevant Employment laws, and engage the
complaints
Risk: Groen and Noorani could be perceived as not being able to properly manage
Ghomeshi
Possible Outcome: Frequent performance reviews
 Independent oversight
 Higher importance on individual well-being
 An anonymous enforcement system for whistle-blowing