Abstract

The case discusses the various aspects of the sudden and surprise firing in 2014 of Jill Abramson (Abramson), executive editor of the New York Times (NYT), who had served the paper since 1997. In May 2014, the publisher of the company, Arthur Sulzberger Jr., suddenly announced the unceremonious exit of Abramson, without quoting the exact reasons, and thereby attracted a lot of media attention. Various theories were put forward to explain Sulzberger’s decision, journalists, reporters, analysts, and industry insiders across the globe raised questions on the transparency of the organization. The action raised concerns over gender disparity and how behavior and a management style acceptable for men could became questionable where women at the workplace were concerned. Another aspect of the case discusses the role of sexism in Abramson’s unceremonious departure. As a Washington bureau chief and as managing editor of NYT, Abramson had come to know that her pay and pension benefits were considerably lower than her male predecessor’s financial benefits in the same positions. It was further speculated that her negotiations with the management on the issue had become an important factor that led to a strain in the relationship between Abramson on the one hand and Sulzberger and President and CEO Mark Thompson on the other. Many opined that Abramson was the victim of an unspoken tussle with the Times management. Apart from Thompson and Sulzberger, the then managing editor Dean Baquet was also not on good terms with Abramson. Many industry observers wondered whether Sulzberger and Thompson could have handled the whole situation better.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the issues and challenges related to disciplinary action and termination of service.
• Understand the issues and challenges faced by women in the workforce and also in leadership positions – gender inequality, gender disparity in compensation, sexism, what is considered acceptable behavior for women executives, etc.
• Debate on various aspects that led to the firing of the NYT’s first woman executive editor.
• Discuss and debate issues related to salary negotiations, management style, and tackling office politics.
• Discuss ways in which the senior management of NYT could have handled the situation better.

Keywords

Organizational behavior, Disciplinary Action, Termination of service, Firing, Women in the workforce, Women in leadership positions, Gender inequality, Sexism, Gender disparity in compensation, Salary negotiations, Office politics, Management tussle, Management style, Leadership, Communications