WAC CASE ANALYSIS-2

CASE :
TEHELKA IN CRISIS
Submitted by :
Shubham Gera
024048
Section-F
Synopsis
:
This case study talks about an incident that led a reputed magazine company "Tehelka" in
crisis. The incident involved an allegation of sexual assault by one employee against her boss.
The way this incident was handled by the Managing Editor of the firm, arose many questions
among the general public and social media. The traumatised victim had to resign from her
job. Further, the controversery pushed the Managing Editor to resign from her post too. The
company's reputation was at stake and many staff members started revolting within the firm.

Situation Analysis :
On Nov 18, 2013, Shoma Chaudhury, Managing Editor of Tehelka recieved an e-mail from
her female colleague regarding complaint of sexual assault against Tarun Tejpal, Founder of
Tehelka Magazine. The victim alleged that Tarun Tejpal had sexually assaulted and molested
her. She demanded a written apology from Tarun Tejpal. Shoma immediately took actions by
talking to the concerned journalist and confronting Tejpal. Tejpal agreed to write an
unconditional apology and he also announced his recusal for six months as a penace for an
untoward incident. However, the situation went out of control when the mail and other related
communications were leaked in general public. The victim also resigned asserting that Shoma
appeared to be siding Tejpal and she was traumatised by the way situation has been handled.
Her resignation was accepted and later on, both the victim's resignation e-mail as well as the
editor's approval of that e-mail were leaked to the media, which generated further controversy
and disagreement on the way the whole situation has been handled and pushed Shoma
Chaudhury to resign from her position as the managing editor. Shoma finds herself in a
difficult situation and wonders how she could have this situation in a better way.

Problem Analysis :
The main problem revolves around the Decision-making capabilities of Shoma Chaudhary,
that is how differently she could have handled this situation to prevent the crisis. To her
defense, Shoma felt she had gotten her colleague more than what she desired : written
apology and recusal of Tejpal as editor of Tehelka for the next six months. Moreover, the
process of setting up the anti-sexual harassment committee was also begun. The law would
have taken its course according to the findings, but the situation worsened at Tehelka when
the story broke in the press, things were misconstrued and snowballed exponentially in the
media, based on half-facts and selective leaks.

Different Symptons and their identification regarding the problem :

Social Media Outrage : More than 100,000 tweets and Facebook comments regarding the
poorly-handled crisis. The general public did not find this six-month leave of Tejpal as
sufficient atonement for a charge like sexual assault.
Resignation of Victim : The journalist who initiated the assualt charges resigned from her
job by feeling traumatized by the lack of support offered by the organization.
Resignation by other staff members : More staff members started to resign in solidarity of
their colleague and in anger towards Chaudhury inability to handle the case.
No communication on the issue with employees : There were questions with respect to why
Shoma did not undertake more communication on the issue with the employees. Whatever
staff knew was either through colleagues with whom the victim was communicating or
through social media and print media.
Protests outside Shoma's house :
A keyword search for Tejpal case on Google yielded around 43,000,000 results in 0.35
seconds, none appearing to cast Chaudhury in a positive light. There were protests outside her
house indicating how badly her credibility had been compromised.
General Public Opinion : How Shoma Chaudhury who was formerly known as crusader for
women, had betrayed a woman in need, when her own organization was at stake.
Facts and Assumptions :
Different Facts and assumptions related to the incident are :
1. Shouma assumed that she had been driven by the victim's wishes and had gotten her
more than what she desired for as justice.
2. Shouma even justified the apology by supporting Tejpal's self-penace.
3. Shouma chose not to mention the charge of sexual assault against Tejpal and instead
reminded staff of Tejpal's contributions for the firm.
Recommended Actions :
Tehelka should take following approach in order to recover from the crisis :
Tehelka should first apologize to the public via a press release, followed by taking
action against Tarun Tejpal
Setting up of a committee in which a legal advisor is an external member in the panel.
Setup corporate communication committee which can handle media.
Generacy of PR team to rebuild the brand image of tehelka.

Plan of Action:
The initial step would be suspension of Tarun Tejpal from the association for an
inconclusive period until he is demonstrated blameless.
For appraisal of the case and future cases, an inside board of trustees would be set up.
The board of trustees would incorporate conspicuous partners of the association.
A lawful guide would likewise be incorporated into the board who might be the main
outside part in the board to guarantee secrecy of the data and cases to be dealt with by
the advisory group.
The council ought to be taking effect right now thinking about the direness of the
present issue. Both the gatherings ought to be heard before going to a ultimate choice.
A appropriate correspondence system ought to be set up and institutionalized methods
should be upheld which would guarantee legitimate treatment of such private data
with the goal that no further information holes occur.
The media ought to be additionally taken care of viably. The official statement for the
benefit of Shoma Chaudhary has been incorporated into the supplement.
Contingency Plan:
If recommended decision fails, an external committee can be set up which would ensure an
objective assessment of the current as well as future issues that might pop up as the
organisation continues to function.
Management can also file a legal case against the assaulter so that the case can get a third
party angle for serving the justice without any penalty