LAFLAMME SCANDAL;
AGEISM, SEXISM, HUBRIS & STUPIDITY
'Fire Michael Melling': Viewers call for CTV exec's leave to be made 'permanent'
As "CTV News" head Michael Melling goes on leave following long-time anchor Lisa LaFlamme's recent termination, some people are calling on Bell Media to make his absence "permanent."
According to an internal email sent to Bell Media news team members Friday afternoon, Melling went on leave on his own accord in hopes of spending more time with his loved ones.
"Michael Melling has decided to take leave from his current role effective immediately to spend time with this family," reads a note sent by Bell senior vice president of content development and news Karine Moses.
"His decision reflects our shared desire to support the newsroom and do what's best to help the team move past the current circumstances to focus on delivering the stories that matter to Canadians."
Moses added in her memo that Richard Gray, who's currently a regional general manager for the eastern region, will step in for Melling.
However, Bell president and CEO Mirko Bibic posted his own statement on LinkedIn on Friday, addressing some of the "heavy criticism" and "concerns" people have raised against the media giant, while noting that Melling's absence wasn't a personal decision.
"To address concerns raised regarding the working environment in the newsroom, we have begun an independent review involving confidential interviews with all newsroom employees who choose to participate. Any necessary changes that become evident will be implemented swiftly to ensure a respectful, unified workplace," Bibic wrote.
"I also want to address the situation of our vice president of national news, Michael Melling, who has been the subject of various allegations. Michael is on leave effective immediately, pending the outcome of the workplace review that is proceeding."
Amid the news, people have taken to social media to call for Bell to permanently terminate Melling.
Over the past couple of weeks, Melling was accused of questioning Lisa LaFlamme's decision to let her hair go grey, and for interfering with CTV's news coverage following LaFlamme's dismissal.
On Aug. 15, LaFlamme voiced her own experience with Bell Media when she was informed on June 29 that her contract would be ending. After spending 35 years working for the company, LaFlamme explained how she felt "blindsided" in a video — which has since been viewed more than 4.5 million times — posted to her Twitter account.
Following LaFlamme's news of her contract being terminated, a former "etalk" host also spoke out about alleged mistreatment and gender discrimination.
Danielle Graham, who spent 17 years working for Bell Media, revealed she also had her contract suddenly terminated, and was only compensated three months severance.
"March 1: I brought to management's attention a situation where it was clear I was being discriminated against as a woman. I was ignored and laughed at," she began. "March 4: I forwarded this example of the blatant gender discrimination I was facing to HR. March 7: HR told me to file a formal complaint and that an investigation would commence. March 8: A meeting to discuss these issues was set for March 11."
However, things quickly took a turn for the worse, according to Graham.
"Instead, on March 11, I was re-scheduled to be in the office for a 'shoot,'" she wrote. "As I was getting ready in my office, I was suddenly told by management, 'Your services are no longer required.' I was told it was a 'business decision.'"
In a second slide, Graham went on to explain more of her experience with being let go so suddenly.
"I was not allowed to say goodbye on-air or to contribute to the messaging surrounding my departure, despite several requests from my representative to do so," she penned. "I was given three months severance for my 17 years there.
"I'm proud to stand in solidarity and fight alongside all women who have been mistreated, discriminated against and who have been retaliated against for speaking up."
'Someone should be held accountable': LaFlamme's exit from CTV sparks internal investigation, petition for her return
The trajectory of CTV's former lead anchor, Lisa LaFlamme's dismissal from the network has led to loud feedback from viewers and now an internal investigation into how it was all handled.
Earlier this week, the veteran journalist took to her social media to inform her followers that her contract with CTV was not renewed, despite having two years left. She described being “blindsided” by the decision, which was described by the network as a “business decision” sparked by “changing viewer habits”.
Many on social media were outraged by the move, describing it as sexist and ageist. There are reports of conversation around LaFlamme’s decision to go gray, with some wondering if that was part of her exit from the network. A petition on Change.org has since been launched to reinstate LaFlamme back to her former job.
Bell Media, the parent company of the network, has since put out a statement saying they regret the way the situation was handled and they take the accusations around it very seriously. They added that an independent, third-party internal workplace review will be taking place in the near future.
Anil Verma is a professor emeritus of industrial relations and HR management with the University of Toronto. He says Bell Media appears to be in damage control at the moment because they know they’ve done damage to themselves.
“I don’t think it went well for them, in fact it went badly,” he tells Yahoo Canada News.
He’s unsure whether CTV was within their legal right to not renew LaFlamme’s contract if she wasn’t needed, saying it could be a matter of personalities clashing. However, a number of people were likely involved with the final decision and still managed to handle it poorly.
“You can’t argue that she wasn’t doing her job properly, that wouldn't stand in front of an arbitrator,” he says. “She could justly sue CTV and win a big settlement because she has lots of evidence to show that performance on the job wasn’t an issue and she was fired for reasons unrelated to her ability to do the job.”
When it comes to proving the allegations of ageism and sexism, Verma says that would be more of a challenge to prove, as you’d have to demonstrate there was a systemic issue of demoting women at the network.
Still, he points out that not only have CTV lost their lead anchor on the network, they’ve invited a tsunami of bad publicity.
“Someone should be held accountable for that,” he says. “If you’d done it right, you wouldn’t have to do an internal investigation.”
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