[August 10, 2014] The senior leadership of a television sports channel has suspended its third host, this one for revealing domestic abuse against a girlfriend more than 20 years ago. It is clear that the leaders at this television studio are taking a hard line against certain comments made by their hosts. Comments on domestic abuse are a sensitive issue and subject to close scrutiny. The sports channel suspensions are sending a message that discussing it publically on the air will draw swift punishment.
The question that senior leaders outside the television sports channel should be asking themselves is, “what would I do in this situation?” As a senior leader in the military, for a sports team, for a business, would handing out a short suspension from work without pay be the right punishment? Would the same punishment be given to a “host”, worker, mid-level manager, senior vice president? All these are important questions without easy answers.
The sports channel suspensions have made it public that certain comments are unacceptable. Cross the line and punishment will follow. The question everyone is asking is, “does the punishment fit the crime?” For organizations that have a public face, the senior leadership has a difficult choice to make. All these things must be reviewed before problems occur and communicated to employees. Otherwise, the exercise in knee-jerk punishment by leaders will have long-lasting and negative consequences.
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[Read about the story here] http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/espn-suspends-host-domestic-abuse-724380