Somebody Stop the Radio Star: Ghomeshi at the CBC

In 2012, the executive producer of the hit radio show Q and the director of Network Radio at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) faced employees’ complaints against the show’s star host, Jian Ghomeshi. The employees alleged that Ghomeshi’s treatment of employees was problematic and contrary to the corporation’s values and policies. A few years earlier, a female employee had also alleged mistreatment by Ghomeshi but no disciplinary action had been taken. The two managers faced a difficult decision. Ghomeshi had strong support among CBC executives, including from their boss, and his popular radio program had achieved high ratings among the younger audience that the organization needed to appeal to.

This case can be used in senior undergraduate or MBA courses in 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. <br>The learning objectives include the following: <ul><li>To explore the issue of abusive supervision, its impact on employees and organizations, and the steps that can be taken to counteract it.</li><li>To consider the multiple bases of power within an organization.</li><li>To discuss the importance of employee voice in organizations and understand the forces that can inhibit or encourage this behaviour.</li><li>To outline how perceptions of organizational justice are developed and their impact on the workplace.</li><li>To discuss how to recover from a negative crisis experience in an organization.</li><li>To examine how a leader’s character dimensions can fuel leadership action.</li><ul>Note: 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.

• employee voice, abusive supervision, power, organizational justice