All-Staff Meeting At NPR Reported To Be Tense

NPR's senior management and board members faced skepticism as they sought to rebuild trust with the network's workforce following the release of a report on the network's failure to curb inappropriate behavior by former top news executive Michael Oreskes.

On Thursday, NPR board members faced tough questions from employees at an open Board of Directors meeting and then a tense all-staff meeting.

NPR reports senior management is seeking to reassure staff that it is tackling NPR's workplace culture issues. At the board meeting, CEO Jarl Mohn described the tumultuous past few months as "humiliating and humbling, because it happened on my watch."

"I wish I had seen the pattern earlier," he added, expressing a wish that the changes being made could "set the standard" for public media and other industries.

An independent legal review of the way senior managers handled allegations against Oreskes, released to staff earlier this week, revealed that leadership repeatedly received information about inappropriate behavior.

That included a warning about Oreskes during the hiring process, and concerns raised throughout his time at NPR. Oreskes repeatedly pursued "conversations and dinner meetings with women inside and outside of NPR that were inappropriate and served a nonbusiness purpose," according to the report. He also repeatedly expensed these meals to NPR.

The NPR board stated Thursday that it has full confidence in Mohn and his team. It also agreed to implement recommendations from the law firm, such as conducting background checks during hiring and retaining an outside firm to look into sexual harassment complaints for "some period going forward." NPR had already committed to some of the recommendations, such as conducting a pay equity study and clarifying its complaint process for harassment.