Sportsnet women felt they were expected to ‘deal with’ Zaun’s offensive comments
TORONTO — Sportsnet’s firing of baseball analyst Gregg Zaun came as no surprise to some of the network’s female staffers. What they could not understand was why it took so long.
The day after the former Blue Jays catcher was fired for “inappropriate behaviour and comments,” two Sportsnet employees painted a picture of an offensive workplace environment where sexist comments are tolerated, and they have feared speaking up.
“Zaun’s on-air brand and image was based around aggressive masculinity so when he wore (undershirts) around the office and made rude sexual comments directly to women, or in close proximity of women, with the clear intention of making us uncomfortable, it was sort of implied: that’s who he was, deal with it,” said one employee, who did not want to be identified for fear of reprisals at work.
“I think he was able to get away with this for so long because as a woman at Sportsnet, you certainly didn’t feel empowered to report the inappropriate behaviour of a former professional athlete nicknamed ‘The Manalyst,’ especially to an all-male senior management team.”