CUMULUS: Weasels In Lexington?

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From today's allaccess.com; opinion to follow:
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Talk WVLK-A/LEXINGTON, KY sports talk host TIM WOODBURN has been fired after his arrest for DUI and running from police, reports the LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER. WOODBURN entered a not guilty plea MONDAY after his arrest SATURDAY and asked CUMULUS for a 30 day leave of absence to go to rehab but was fired instead.

LEXINGTON police allege that WOODBURN cut off a police cruiser, then procceded to drive erratically and refused to stop when the police car turned on its emergency lights, finally stopping, whereupon he got out of his car and ran away. The report says that WOODBURN was arrested when he fell while trying to scale a fence. WOODBURN tells the HERALD-LEADER that he plans to enter rehab in COLORADO on MARCH 26.

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I don't know Mr. Woodburn and I've never worked for CUMULUS. After reading the above, I don't believe I'd like to work for CUMULUS. Here's why:

Obviously, Mr. Woodburn made an error in judgement. He shouldn't have been drinking and driving nor should he have run from the police. That's a no-brainer. He was driving his personal vehicle, I assume, and he was on his own time and not representing the radio station.

Following his arrest, he asked for a leave of absence from CUMULUS to try to get some help. Instead of compassion, CUMULUS fired him outright. I believe the Lexington/CUMULUS group is wrong.

Mr. Woodburn could have been a more valuable person to the station...and serve the public better...by going on-air to talk about his mistake. Lots of teens listen to a SportsTalk station; they might even learn the hard lesson Mr. Woodburn learned by hearing his story. CUMULUS could have been seen as compassionate and caring; instead they remind me why radio...for the most part...is populated by weasels.

So, CUMULUS...you fired a guy who asked for a hand. Instead, you gave him the back of your hand. Very compassionate, right?

That's my opinion; anyone else like to weigh in?

 

[1071jockbm]

I don't believe I am going to take up for this company, it was his 3rd DUI in the last four or five years. He also had a PI arrest and a drug charge along with the last DUI which happened within the last year. I know Tim, he is not a nice guy, I think cumulus was right with this call

 

[Kent]

> Obviously, Mr. Woodburn made an error in judgement. He
> shouldn't have been drinking and driving nor should he have
> run from the police. That's a no-brainer. He was driving his
> personal vehicle, I assume, and he was on his own time and
> not representing the radio station.

It's anything but true that he wasn't representing the radio station. You represent your employer 24/7, especially when the nature of your business is public contact, like it is in radio. If you do something serious enough and your employer is identified, even on your own time, I don't know of a single company that wouldn't terminate you. When I worked for Cumulus, they took DUI's very seriously. When you began working there, you had to open your driving record to the company for review. You could only be allowed to drive a company vehicle if your record was clean within a certain time frame. The reasoning was very simple; if you did anything that harmed anyone in a company vehicle, Cumulus could be sued. They wanted to minimize their chances of a lawsuit, and I really can't blame them for that. If you couldn't drive a company vehicle due to an alcohol-related issue when it was essential to your job, you would likely be terminated. The company also had one of the strictest no alcohol policies I've ever seen. Employees of the company could not consume alcohol at any company event, period. There was even some question as to whether an employee could consume alcohol if he went to a station event on his own time independent of work.

> Following his arrest, he asked for a leave of absence from
> CUMULUS to try to get some help. Instead of compassion,
> CUMULUS fired him outright. I believe the Lexington/CUMULUS
> group is wrong.

I don't necessarily disagree with you that firing someone who tries to get help is a bad way to treat that person. However, the seriousness of the charges against Mr. Woodburn might have outweighed the fact that he wanted to get help. After all, what he did definitely casts the station in a negative light and damages his own credibility. If a radio station loses its image and credibility, what does it have? It really doesn't have much. Also, how effective is a sports talker who can no longer drive himself to station events because of his own mistakes? Remember, he had a choice, and he picked the wrong one. By making the wrong choice, he chose what came with it.

Just some food for thought. I'm not trying to say Cumulus is full of nice people who treat everyone well. After all, I was really miserable when I worked for Cumulus, and I don't believe I was treated in a manner that was anything resembling professional. Getting out of there before they could fire me was the best thing that's happened to me! However, my problem had more to do with my OM than the company itself. Cumulus isn't all bad, and there were, and still are, plenty of good people who work for the company nationwide. I can really see both sides to this story.

 

[no1uknow]

Its always better when You have all the info isnt it?

Cumulus could only be criticized if they did not ever offer this guy a chance to get in the program to fix his problem. This is not a secret that this guy has had a long term problem it seems, but even with help, its up to him to want to make changes in his life. Otherwise, you get what you deserve.

I don't believe I am going to take up for this company, it
> was his 3rd DUI in the last four or five years. He also had
> a PI arrest and a drug charge along with the last DUI which
> happened within the last year. I know Tim, he is not a nice
> guy, I think cumulus was right with this call
>

 

[radiomayor2]

tough to say but you need to deal with these things quickly.....
i don't have much respect for that company but in this case they were right.

especially in this litigious society....all you need is for an employee is to be driving a company van and you got big problems............

he got a break that it was after his 3rd DUI..........


> I don't believe I am going to take up for this company, it
> was his 3rd DUI in the last four or five years. He also had
> a PI arrest and a drug charge along with the last DUI which
> happened within the last year. I know Tim, he is not a nice
> guy, I think cumulus was right with this call
>

 

[BigTimeEngineer]

> I know Tim, he is not a nice guy, I think cumulus was right with this call
> >

Tim may not be a nice guy. Still, whether it was the "right call" is subjective, at best. I don't know if Kentucky is a right to work state, but if it is, then employees, sadly, work at the whim of their employer. If not, then he certainly has an interesting wrongful termination suit with Cumulus as a very weak defendant.

When you consider the industry as a whole, the concept of a radio station dismissing a jock/host for breaking the equivalent of a "morals clause", DUI, is just a bit laughable.

They should have, at the very least, given him his leave of absence and waited for the judicial system to take its course.

No one was right in this one.