Managers of the embattled Canadian Broadcasting Corporation have offered a shamefaced apology to its employees and listeners after a damning report documented their failure to rein in inappropriate behaviour by radio host Jian Ghomeshi.  The independent report, released on Thursday, found that the broadcaster’s most popular radio host “consistently breached” network policies on appropriate behavior and often fell “well below” the expected standard.  Censored to remove the names of other employees and specific accounts of notorious incidents, the report by labour lawyer Janice Rubin describes a “moody, difficult and emotionally unpredictable” host who was “deeply disrespectful” toward fellow employees.  More pointedly, it also describes in detail how Ghomeshi’s superiors at the network consistently ignored complaints about his behaviour and proved “all too ready to believe his version of the truth”.  The report found that the CBC missed several opportunities to discipline Ghomeshi when credible complaints about his behaviour arose, deciding instead to protect their most popular radio host – and the only one with a significant international reputation.  As the report came out, the CBC said it had “severed ties” with two senior employees. Former head of CBC Radio Chris Boyce and human resources director Todd Spencer had been placed on leave when the scandal erupted in October. CBC also laid off another 244 employees as part of ongoing retrenchment in response to government funding cuts.  Related: Jian Ghomeshi, Canadian radio's brightest star, felled by allegations of sexual violence  Ghomeshi was fired in October after several women came forward to allege that he had assaulted them in non-consensual sex. He is facing seven counts of sexual assault and one of overcoming resistance by choking, but has plead not guilty to all charges.  The new CBC report included descriptions of a “small number” of sexual harrassment complaints in the workplace, as well as unwelcome touching and flirting, but focused more on management’s failure to respond to building complaints from outside the CBC.  The CBC was not aware of any internal complaints of sexual harassment, according to the report. One woman submitted a complaint to her union, it says, and it was the union that failed to investigate.  “We accept the general conclusions of the report, though troubling and disappointing; they point to lapses in our systems and concerns about our culture,” CBC president Hubert Lacroix said following release of the report. “Most importantly, we want to sincerely apologise to our employees who experienced inappropriate behaviour in our workplace and to Canadians who have put their trust in CBC/Radio-Canada as the country’s public broadcaster.”
Radio network bosses failed to rein in inappropriate behaviour – report.CBC ‘severed ties’ with two senior employees in aftermath of host’s firing