Shawnee Love   •  
October 31, 2014

When the story of Jian exiting the CBC broke, I heard about it from a couple friends who asked “Can the CBC do that?”  Clearly, Jian’s Facebook post of being wronged had struck a chord.  It seemed so unfair that an employee could be fired for his or her sexual preferences in this day and age.

However, I am pretty sure this was a risk management decision on the part of the CBC.  They didn’t fire Jian when they first learned about his preferences- Jian said he told them himself.  (Although I suspect they were thinking “too much information”.)  They fired him after thought and review of the situation.  I am guessing, they looked at what would happen to them if the case broke in the media in the best and worst case scenarios, weighed out the potential repercussions based on what they know and made a decision to part company.

When an asset becomes a liability, you find a way to divest.  Cold and harsh, but true in all aspects of business including human resources.  Time will tell, but I look forward to learning more about this business case.

How about you?