Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Jian Ghomeshi - A very Canadian scandal

The other day, I wrote this on the blog about the former host of CBC Radio's Q, Jian Ghomeshi. And, since the Interwebs work a certain way (sex scandal + Internet = moths to flame) this site was slaughtered with traffic for a while. It's somewhat funny what tickles folks to read stuff, no?

I noodled the idea a little more and wrote this for Yahoo Canada:
Jian Ghomeshi: Did the CBC cross the line as an employer?
And sure enough, if the volume of comments is any indication, more folks have been tickled.

If this raises awareness of violence against women and bullying, then it'll end up being, on balance, a good thing. I doubt anyone directly involved in this mess would fully agree with me on that, but I've got to believe that there's a greater good here.

Your turn: What's an employer's role or responsibility when an employee's outside-the-office behavior crosses a line?

1 comment:

Craig said...

Once your name has been linked to an employer in the media in context of something salacious, you really have no hope. "John Smitherylocks, an employee of Booger Corp, has been accused of masticating in public". Even with the qualifier that he has not been convicted, any employer will use any pretext to distance themselves from the individual and what they are accused of. They will not wish to be associated with the negatively-perceived action. They will use relevant provincial employment laws to cut ties ASAP and distance themselves, taking a perceived moral high-ground.