Senior Reporter/Sport Editor at the National Communications Network (NCN), Jocelle Archibald, was on Monday suspended for one month without pay for publicly criticising a colleague.
Archibald took to social media, where she joined many in voicing her criticism over NCN’s Junior Producer, Norman Gobin’s question to President David Granger. During the televised weekly broadcast of ‘The Public Interest’, Gobin asked the Head of State if he plays Pokémon Go.
She was subsequently ordered by management of the State-owned media house to take down the Facebook status, which read, “Who goes to interview the President… The President and asks about Pokémon go… I’m surrounded by idiots.”
She was then told to issue written apologies to Gobin and his Manager at the company, veteran Programme Coordinator, Wendy Hermonstein.
However, it was reported that although she submitted her apologies, they were deemed “sarcastic” and “insincere” by NCN’s management, resulting in the Human Resources Manager, Tishika De Costa, suspending her for one month without pay. This instruction was given by NCN’s Chief Executive Officer, Lennox Cornette.
Archibald has been employed at the State-owned entity for a number of years, while a source has confirmed that Gobin has only been attached to the company since 2014.
She is expected to resume work as per normal on the September 29. Efforts to make contact with NCN’s Chief Executive Officer proved futile.
When contacted, Chief Labour Officer Charles Ogle pointed out that although he is unable to pronounce on the actions taken by NCN’s management, a meeting with Archibald should shed some light on the matter.
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So is this what would happen if we all decided to be outspoken about our true feelings?