CBC mistaken to fireside reporter who instructed information website he was pressured to delete tweet vital of Don Cherry: arbitrator

“His chosen method of publicizing an internal CBC decision ordering him to take down a tweet was, in my view, like other public comment from CBC employees, not intended to harm the CBC or its reputation, nor is there any evidence that it did so,” Slotnick wrote.

CBC had mentioned Khan was fired — not due to the tweet — however for each the leak and for homophobic and different disparaging remarks he was discovered to have made on-line.  

But Slotnick dominated these causes “amounted to, at most, a minor indiscretion” and have been “far overshadowed” by a breach of privateness that uncovered Khan’s actions.

“Consequently, my conclusion is that the CBC acted improperly by dismissing him for cause,” Slotnick wrote. 

Khan declined to remark in regards to the choice when contacted by e-mail. He tweeted one phrase — “Vindicated” — early Wednesday.

Meanwhile, in a press release, CBC restated that its actions in opposition to Khan “were not related to his tweet regarding Don Cherry.”

The community added: “As was noted in the ruling, our actions were not considered discriminatory and there was no breach of Human Rights law.” 

Cherry was fired in November 2019 after an outburst on Hockey Night in Canada by which the controversial commentator spoke about Remembrance Day and his outrage over “people that come here” — referring to immigrants — and do not put on poppies. 

Khan was offended by Cherry’s remarks and tweeted that his Coach’s Corner phase ought to be cancelled. He mentioned Cherry’s “xenophobic comments being aired weekly are deplorable.”

When CBC administration discovered of Khan’s tweet, he was instructed it violated the coverage on reporters expressing opinions, based on Slotnick’s ruling.

Khan, who was 23 on the time, was requested to delete the tweet, which he did, reluctantly, and he wasn’t disciplined for his actions, the choice says.

But Khan additionally instructed administration that he believed CBC’s insurance policies have been being utilized selectively, and in a method that was dangerous to journalists of color, based on his testimony, which ran for seven days over a number of months final yr.

He testified he wasn’t glad with the solutions he acquired from administration and determined to leak what had transpired to the information website Canadaland, which printed the story on Nov. 14.

Khan testified he was conflicted about telling Canadaland, however felt a dialogue was vital about race and the CBC and about how its journalism insurance policies have been, in his view, silencing workers of color. 

Later that November, one other CBC reporter, Austin Grabish, utilizing a shared firm laptop computer that Khan had used, found Khan’s private Twitter and WhatsApp accounts have been nonetheless logged in, and located messages that included an admission that Khan had contacted Canadaland.

In one other message, Khan referred to administration as “assholes” for accusing him of violating CBC journalist insurance policies. 

Khan had additionally despatched a message to Andray Domise, a columnist with Maclean’s journal, who subsequently posted a tweet saying that CBC had made Khan take down the unique tweet. 

Grabish additionally found that among the messages included what he believed to be homophobic slurs, the ruling states. 

Grabish says he was “shocked and disappointed” by the homophobia and the “thread of misinformation about the CBC.”

“As a gay man, I know what it’s like to be marginalized and grew up repeatedly being the subject of regular homophobic slurs and bullying because of my sexual orientation,” he mentioned in a press release Thursday.

Grabish relayed what he discovered to administration and Khan was fired on Dec. 3, 2019, partly, based on the choice, for “contacting external outlets about the order to delete the Cherry tweet, and for making disparaging comments about CBC management and its policies.”

He was additionally cited for making a homophobic slur on WhatsApp the place his profile recognized him as a CBC worker, says the ruling.

Khan testified the alleged slurs have been a joke amongst associates, based on the ruling, and reiterated that place Thursday in an e-mail to CBC.

“A friend and I were mocking a friend who uses that word in an effort to tell him to not use that language as it’s derogatory and hurtful,” he wrote in reference to the homophobic slur cited by Grabish.

Grievance filed

The union representing Khan, the Canadian Media Guild (CMG), filed a grievance on his behalf, alleging the CBC violated the collective settlement, the Canada Labour Code, the Privacy Act, the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It argued Khan had an affordable expectation that his messages, though they have been on an organization laptop computer, have been personal and that they need to not have been utilized by administration within the choice to fireside him.

The union additionally claimed that Khan was not looking for vengeance or to embarrass somebody, however was calling for a public dialogue about CBC’s journalism insurance policies and the way they have been silencing workers of color.

In his ruling, Slotnick mentioned Khan had an affordable expectation of privateness for his messages and that his proper to privateness was violated, which “tainted the entire process that led to the termination of his employment.”

Slotnick mentioned he agreed with the union that “if employees could lose their jobs for privately criticizing their bosses — even if in crude terms — this country would be facing a severe labour shortage.”

WATCH | Cherry says he regets alternative of phrases:

Don Cherry speaks to CBC News after being fired for feedback he made 3:05

He additionally rejected the notion that the CBC’s status had suffered.

“In an institution and an atmosphere where controversy is inherent in the nature of the product, my view is that it is an unfounded leap of logic to suggest that Mr. Khan’s actions regarding a tweet somehow affected the CBC’s reputation,” he wrote.

Kim Trynacity, CBC department president of the CMG, mentioned the union is extraordinarily happy with the ruling which “upheld the reasonable expectation of personal privacy” for workers.

“In trying to settle this grievance, it must be noted CMG has always focused on how management treated Khan, and how it dealt with a situation of a racialized temporary employee,” she mentioned in a press release.

“Management failed to respect Khan’s reasonable expectation of privacy which is a clear violation under our collective agreement.”