Bell Media defends firing of only Black radio host, says he disdained diversity efforts
Jivani claims political bias led to his ouster
Bell Media Inc. defends firing its only full-time Black talk radio host by saying Jamil Jivani showed disdain for the media giant's diversity initiatives, was resistant and combative with management, aired anti-vaccination views, and didn't get strong enough ratings.
Jivani sued Bell for wrongful dismissal after he was fired from its iheartradio network in January, claiming he was hired as a token visible minority but fired when he didn't match liberal views white executives expected from a Black man.
Bell's statement of defence and Jivani's reply to it, both filed in court, highlight touchstone struggles of the modern culture wars: gender pronouns, what diversity means, freedom of expression, handling outlier views on COVID responses and government action.
Bell Media denies Jivani was wrongfully dismissed or suffered damages.
Jivani, 34, of Oshawa, Ont., is a regular contributing columnist for Postmedia, including National Post.
“Prior to his termination, Bell Media had numerous concerns regarding the Plaintiff's on-air performance and his resistant and combative attitude toward his managers and workplace policies,” the company says in its statement of defence.
He “invited guests onto his show who expressed extreme, false views on the COVID-19 Global Pandemic and failed to challenge their viewpoints or offer a balancing counterpoint,” the company claims.
As an example, Bell said Jivani didn't challenge a caller who said Justin Trudeau, the prime minister, was a “tyrant dictator” and a “globalist puppet.” Nor did he challenge a caller saying alternative therapeutics such as hydroxychloroquine could treat COVID.
Bell complains Jivani had Conservative member of Parliament Cathay Wagantall, who opposed vaccine mandates, on his show questioning the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines. Jivani failed to challenge “the falseness of her assertions,” the statement says.
“The broadcasting of such extreme viewpoints in an unchecked fashion garnered criticism and concerns from both internal members of Bell Media and individuals who had listened,” the company claims.
Bell says the company also received complaints after an on-air discussion of singer and actor Demi Lovato changing her gender pronoun from “she” to “they.” Jivani declined to refer to Lovato as “they” and said he uses “he or she” on the show, the company claims.
The company also says it had “serious concerns” over Jivani's “open disdain” for the company's diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The company's statement refers to them by the acronym DEI.
“The Plaintiff refused to participate in any of Bell's DEI initiatives, suggesting instead that (Bell) `demonstrate a commitment to true diversity: diversity of thought,' ” the company's defence says.
Bell also says listenership ratings for his show were not strong. “When comparatively evaluating the market share of the Plaintiff and that of the previous host in the same time slot, the Plaintiff's ratings were in steady decline and underperforming,” the Bell statement claims.
Bell says when Hilary Whyte, the company's general
manager of radio, asked to meet with Jivani about the complaints, she wrote in an email: “I want to be sure that we are reflecting the company's strong commitment to Diversity and Inclusion, and that we are building passion in our audience and growing our ratings. We are incredibly challenged right now in both ratings and revenue, and it's critical that we remain aligned.”
In reply, Bell says, Jivani “delivered a belligerent email response, accusing Whyte of levelling `baseless smears' against him and stating that `as the only black radio host' he was offended that the show's `commitment to diversity and inclusion' was being `questioned.'”
The company says that
reply was “gross and intolerable insubordination and a disdainful attitude toward Whyte.”
Unmoved by the defence, Jivani's lawyer, Kathryn Marshall, a partner at Levitt Sheikh, filed a reply to Bell disputing it.
“In the Statement of Defence, the Defendant admits, for the first time, that the Plaintiff 's employment was terminated for ideological and political reasons,” the reply says.
“The Defendant has attempted to mischaracterize the Plaintiff and has relied on ideologically based attacks in an effort to smear his character.”
Jivani's reply says he is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion but his “lived experience as a Black man” gives him a different perspective.
“When the Plaintiff brought this robust and substantive understanding of DEI into the workplace, he was met with hostility by the Defendant's largely White management. The Defendant clearly was only interested in an approach to DEI that fit its political bias and stereotypes,” the reply says.
“The Plaintiff was unfairly cast as being difficult and combative simply for advocating for himself in light of the Defendant's highly toxic and unsupportive workplace culture.”
The reply also accuses Bell of attacking Jivani for not towing a Liberal world view, including for not rebutting on-air criticism of Trudeau and interviewing a Conservative member of Parliament.
The media company's personnel decisions have made headlines recently over the departure of several employees, including the firing of Lisa Laflamme, the CTV news anchor, which sparked condemnation of perceived sexism and ageism. Laflamme's decision to allow her hair to grow out grey during the pandemic prior to her firing seized public attention.
THE PLAINTIFF'S RATINGS WERE IN STEADY DECLINE.