Former TV host expands on allegations of racism against Bell Media (VIDEOS)

A long-time Canadian TV personality spoke publicly for the first time on social media after filing a human rights complaint against Bell Media last week.

In two emotional Instagram videos posted on Monday, former CP24 host Patricia Jaggernauth expanded on her allegations of racism, sexism, and discrimination against the media giant.

The Emmy-award-winning TV personality began by confirming that she resigned from CP24, and was not fired or laid off.

“You’re all used to seeing me smile,” she said. “But on the inside, I have been really hurting. Why? Because of the way Bell had been treating me.”

 

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Jaggernauth worked as a weather specialist, co-host, and remote reporter for Bell Media’s live news channel CP24 for a little over 11 years.

She says that since she joined the team in June 2011, she was “denied a basic living wage” and only received a $14 raise.

“I have been treated like a token and a commodity by CP24 and Bell, passed over for promotions more times than I can count,” Jaggernauth explained in the video.

She elaborated, saying she lost out on many opportunities to white colleagues. In an exclusive interview with CBC News last week, the part-Guyanese and part-Jamaican host credits this to the fact that she is a woman of colour.

One example Jaggernauth gave was a white, male colleague — who she says had no TV experience — receiving a six-figure contract, all while she was denied positions she applied to and continued to work as backfill.

“I never had a leader ever offer me a contract,” she said. “Never had a Bell executive made an investment in me.”

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Jaggernauth has had an extensive 20-year career in television. She’s won multiple Canadian Media Awards, worked for E!News in Los Angeles and appeared on the BBC for special weather coverage. She has also hosted Toronto’s Caribbean Carnival, North America’s largest Caribbean festival.

Despite her qualifications, Jaggernauth says she was “misled” by management to believe that better opportunities were on the way.

“My talent was verbally celebrated by all levels of management at Bell, but that was just lip service,” she said.

In the human rights complaint, she alleges that she was forced to work weeks on end without a day off while being denied a stable, full-time position.

So, she took on freelance gigs to supplement her income. However, over the summer, management blocked her from working any paid events outside of the company without approval, according to the human rights complaint.

Jaggernauth says this was the last straw.

“Here’s where I realize I’m done,” she said in her Instagram video. “All the hope I was holding on to was really false.”

She says after two years of taking her complaints to the president of Bell Media, she was granted one conference call, “which swiftly ended when the executive in charge was let go from Bell Media Studios.”

A Bell Media spokesperson told Daily Hive in an email that the company does not comment on matters involving current or former staff members.

“Bell Media takes allegations of any potential discrimination very seriously, and are committed to a safe, inclusive, and respectful work environment where employees can thrive,” stated the spokesperson.

 

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“If a matter is brought to our attention where an employee did not feel adequately supported, a process is triggered to review and address when required.”

Jaggernauth also opened up about how her situation affected her mental health, recalling a “breakdown” she had on live TV during Bell Let’s Talk day.

She says her managers denied her access to therapy. After pushing and therapy was finally made available to her, but it expired in three months.

“I worked in a very toxic work environment,” she shared in her video. “There were more mental health leaves taken by my colleagues and more colleagues resigning than I can even count the environment was terrible for mental health.”

This comes two months after Bell Media fired renowned anchor Lisa LaFlamme.

Since then, the telecommunications giant has been under fire for allegations of ageism and sexism.