A report into the behaviour of BBC Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace has substantiated 45 allegations made against him, including claims of inappropriate sexual language and one incident of unwelcome physical contact. The BBC has accepted that opportunities were missed to address poor behaviour – so what can others learn from this case?
The report, compiled by the law firm Lewis Silkin, was commissioned following the BBC News coverage concerning allegations of inappropriate sexual comments and inappropriate behaviour by 13 people who had worked with Wallace across a 17-year period. The BBC has subsequently reported that 50 more people have made fresh claims about the TV presenter.
The report’s findings raise a number of questions regarding how allegations had been handled in the past – by both the BBC and the production company Banijay UK – and the inadequate whistleblowing systems and processes for raising complaints and concerns.
This serves as another reminder of how it can be easy to miss the big picture when concerns are managed individually and in isolation. However, it would be naïve to think that those closest to Mr Wallace and the TV production team will not have been aware of the concerns raised. This potentially serves as another example of “professional enablers” safeguarding a high-profile individual at the expense of junior and vulnerable staff.
The production company Banijay UK and the BBC said the number of sustained allegations made Wallace’s return to MasterChef untenable and the BBC confirmed they had no plans to work with him in the future.
Our own research has found that younger workers are less likely to blow the whistle to their employer compared to older generations. But when asked what they were most likely to speak up about at work Gen Z workers (18–24-year-olds) put sexual and racial harassment as their top issues, confirming general assumptions that younger workers are less willing to tolerate such behaviour in a workplace.
Sadly, we know it is the most vulnerable, and those with the most to lose, that hold back from speaking up. In a sector dominated by self-employed, freelance and casual workers anyone blowing the whistle about work-based issues knows it could result in blacklisting and an end to a career in the creative industries.
All employers with a young workforce, or who work with freelancers and contractors need to understand the barriers that exist to speaking up, even about serious misconduct.
Good employers don’t just have a policy – they actively encourage speaking up, through training and regular communications. They promise to act on reports and investigate swiftly and fairly. They don’t confuse whistleblowing about systematic failures with individual grievances. They don’t just wait for reports, they ensure there are multiple channels and ways of raising concerns and they actively listen when people speak up. They have oversight at board level and can spot trends. Crucially, they allow all those who work with or for them – not just permanent direct employees – to raise and escalate concerns.