Ex S4C executive sues the broadcaster over bullying claims

Martin Shipton

A former member of S4C’s senior management team is taking legal action against the broadcaster, according to documents lodged with the High Court.

It is understood that the case brought by Amanda Rees relates to bullying.

She filed a claim against the Welsh language broadcaster for personal injury in February this year.

Although the documents outlining her complaint are not yet publicly available, we are aware that she was taken seriously ill during an S4C corporate meeting at Llangrannog on the Ceredigion coast in 2023.

Nation.Cymru reported at the time how an unnamed senior executive suffered stress-related heart failure and had to be driven 26 miles to the nearest general hospital – Glangwili in Carmarthen. Later they were transferred to the specialist coronary care unit at Swansea’s Morriston Hospital.

We understand that Ms Rees – the broadcaster’s then director of platforms – was the S4C executive concerned. She has since left the channel.

The incident was looked at as part of an investigation by Cardiff law firm Capital Law into bullying at S4C commissioned by the broadcaster following representations made by the broadcast workers’ union Bectu, four of whose members had been in tears as they told colleagues of their experiences.

S4C chief executive Sian Doyle was sacked in September 2023 following delivery of the Capital Law report, which stated: “The overriding theme of the evidence we received was centred around the behaviours and actions of S4C’s Chief Executive Officer, Sian Doyle and (but to a lesser extent) the Chief Content Officer, Llinos Griffin-Williams, and how they went about their work and how it unsettled the organisation.

“Sian Doyle and her behaviour was a prominent theme brought up again and again. We received examples of her behaviour from former employees, third parties and current employees of each of the three S4C offices, from different levels within the organisation and from different departments. Considering the number of participants who commented, and the number of examples given, Sian Doyle’s behaviour was highlighted as having the most significant negative impact on the working environment and atmosphere within S4C.

“Most examples are of Sian Doyle’s alleged bad behaviour (87.9%). Of those, 37 participants’ (26 current employees and 11 former employees) view was that Sian Doyle’s management style was confrontational, abusive and inconsiderate.

“Sian Doyle’s behaviour was said to have had a significant impact on 18 current employees. Many of the examples provided were not proven by documentary evidence, nor evidence from more than one witness, but there was a clear theme. Some of the evidence is of significant specific events whilst other evidence is of minor incidents, repeatedly creating a pattern. We report on both.

“We received 116 examples of Sian Doyle’s behaviour, 101 of which have been categorised as alleged bad behaviour. There are 15 examples categorised as alleged good behaviour.

“The 101 alleged examples of Sian Doyle’s bad behaviour were provided by 29 participants. Of the 29 participants who provided examples of Sian Doyle’s alleged bad behaviour, 18 were current S4C employees, 9 were former S4C employees, and 2 had left the organisation since the start of the process.

Anxiety

It was reported that the Chief Executive had made it clear that to deliver change in the workplace, anxiety rather than trust was required and that they understood that the Chief Executive wanted staff to feel insecure at work to achieve this.

It was said that there was a ‘..culture of zero critical disclosure and she has created a situation where there is no analysis of the truth, the truth gets presented in a way that Sian sees it and the management team do not challenge her because the culture has gone to such an extent that we do not have the right to challenge and, in my opinion, to do the job we are supposed to do. I would describe the atmosphere as a type of ‘compliance or die’.’

“Many of the participants described situations where they had seen Sian Doyle behave abusively whilst discussing S4C colleagues and their work. This was described in various ways, but participants referred to her targeting specific colleagues in public and her use of swearwords and derogatory language whilst discussing them. This led to an unpleasant feeling and of mistrust among participants.

“There are numerous reports of the Chief Executive being rude or disparaging about colleagues in internal meetings or in public. Examples include:

* Disparaging comments about S4C programmes and their presenters.In one example, in relation to a specific programme, the Chief Executive was reported as saying: “who the fuck are [redacted – presenters]? Who is watching this rubbish?”

* “Sian Doyle just started talking about [a former staff member] who no longer works at S4C. She was just wild and then said:“he has to go. I’m not going to have anyone like that working here”. That is a paraphrase of her words. She was just telling a room full: “that’s it. He has to go. I’m going to get rid of him.”

* In one conversation about a colleague Sian Doyle was reported as saying: ‘She’s fucking gone, she shows me no respect. ‘I’ll get rid of her like that.”

“Participants reported that Sian Doyle’s leadership style was: ‘dictatorial creating a culture of fear’. Many of the participants described the negative impact of this on them and their work, with many being reluctant to challenge the Chief Executive and afraid to state their own ideas or views to her. We were told that this caused many S4C staff to feel generally scared in the workplace.

“There are many reports of people considering that they had to do what the Chief Executive said, whether they agreed or not, with her saying:’Are you with me or not, are you with me or not?’ and: ‘it’s me or the chair, you have to choose who you are loyal to, me or the chairman’?

“As well as many participants considering that Sian Doyle’s leadership was ‘dictatorial’, we heard from many people who considered her to be confrontational.There were a number of examples of this, but providing details and quotations in this section, in particular, might breach the confidentiality of the witnesses. Several reports suggest individuals were berated in meetings with many other staff present but the evidence is very personal

“At least one incident was described where upsetting behaviour and challenging body language resulted in a staff member being in tears and needing to be comforted by others present.

“An example of Sian Doyle’s leadership style was her alleged regular use of the phrase: ‘Shoot one and a thousand tremble’. This was raised by many participants and witnessed first-hand by three.

“We heard that participants felt that Sian Doyle disregarded experience, expertise and past successes. One witness said: “I’ve worked under 5 chief executives, a good relationship, a number of chairmen, with an interim chief executive and I have never felt so worthless as I was working for Siân.”

Legal proceedings

Ms Doyle began legal proceedings against S4C, but the case was subsequently settled on undisclosed terms.

A case brought against the broadcaster by Ms Griffin-Williams, who was herself sacked following a drunken rant during the Rugby World Cup in France, remains outstanding.