Sadaf Ahsan, The Canadian Press Published Thursday, May 26, 2022 11:00 EDT Last Updated on Thursday, May 26, 2022 11:00 EDT
TORONTO – Three days after former Q107 radio presenter Jennifer Valentyne reported harassment at work, Corus Entertainment Inc. has paused the station’s “Derringer in the Morning” program while undergoing an ethical investigation.
On Sunday, Valentyne posted a 12-minute video on social media describing years of verbal abuse and gender discrimination by an unnamed co-worker.
Valentyne says in the video, “What would you do if a co-worker called you, scolded you, called you names, shut you up, made you cry, and then laughed when he told you to cry whatever you wanted? you and I would have let you know with total conviction that if you went to HR, they would choose you? … Like so many women, I held on and kept quiet ”.
In the days that followed, several former Corus employees have made similar allegations against the show’s host, John Derringer, and the company, which some say turned a blind eye.
The Canadian press made several attempts to contact Derringer to comment, but did not respond. Corus said Valentyne shared her concerns years ago and that the broadcast company took steps to review them at the time. He also noted that the Canadian Human Rights Commission is continuing a process related to the allegations.
The company added that it has received new information over the past few days and has hired Rachel Turnpenney of Turnpenney Milne LLP to conduct an external investigation. Derringer’s show will be paused while the investigation is underway.
“Any concerns that include employee experience are of the utmost importance to us and we are committed to listening, learning and taking any appropriate action,” the company said, adding that it will not comment further during the investigation.
Former radio presenter Erin Davis called Derringer’s behavior “the best kept secret on the radio.”
Although she never worked face-to-face with Derringer, Davis says he actively “harassed” her on the airwaves while she presented the 98.1 CHFI “Morning Show.”
“He shot me constantly; it was discouraging. How, why me? I always thought there was enough reward for everyone, but he saw someone who didn’t want to or couldn’t fight and chased me non-stop, “he said in a telephone interview from his home in Victoria, BC.
Another woman, Jacqui Delaney, who is now director of parliamentary affairs for Senator Leo Housakos, spoke on social media about her experience when she worked on the Derringer program in 2002, and left two months later. due to the “toxic” atmosphere.
“From a very early age, when he had a blast with me, I made the decision that it wasn’t what I signed up for and that I should change immediately or I would leave, and management agreed with that assessment,” Delaney said. . he said in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press from his home in Ottawa.
Delaney says she had been Derringer’s third co-presenter in a short amount of time, something management acknowledged was a “problem” even before her arrival. After her initial complaints, she was transferred to a separate booth, but verbal abuse persisted to a level that Delaney says she had never experienced before.
“I left with the understanding that they would keep an eye on him and keep him under control, and that they would take action to make sure that didn’t happen to anyone else. That’s why I was so horrified when I saw Jen’s video, I couldn’t to believe that all these years later, she was describing exactly the same behavior that I had seen. “
Davis says he believes the station allowed Derringer to continue because “if you take him off the air, you’ll lose money.”
“And in the end, all the co-presenters, the revolving door of the women sitting in the chair in front of him, were eminently dispensable, and they weren’t going to say anything, because (the company) would always side with Derringer . ”
Toxic workplace complaints surrounding Corus, however, are not exclusive to gender discrimination. In a 2020 Vice story, a dozen former and current employees described the company as home to a culture of racist micro-aggression.
Supriya Dwivedi, a former Toronto radio presenter for Global News, whose parent company is also Corus, stepped down from work that same year after filing several complaints about co-workers spreading racist misinformation that , according to her, were not heard.
Her time in the company overlapped with that of Valentyne, and she remembers that she often met her in the bathroom, where she found her “visibly upset, shaken, crying.”
Dwivedi adds: “We knew what we had to deal with. Toxic, after all, it’s just a showcase. ”
Until that change comes, she says, “I’m not really sure how we’re supposed to encourage other young women and other racialized young journalists to enter the industry.”
While Delaney hopes to see Corus acknowledge the alleged events of the past two decades, Davis says, “I’m very proud and grateful to Jennifer Valentyne. I had a lot to lose. Once you’re labeled a troublemaker in this business, now You are, and it has been so forever, and that is why women have never spoken out. “