GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE FRAMEWORK

Gretchen Fullido Case

Step 1: Identify and Define Correctly the Grievances

Gretchen Fullido, a Filipina anchor under ABS-CBN filed complaints to several heads
and employees of ABS-CBN. She accused her former boss, ex-TV Patrol supervising producer
Cheryl Favila, and segment producer Maricar Asprec with sexual harassment whereas; it is
defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical
conduct that causes impacts an individual's employment or creates an intimidating, hostile or
offensive environment for that individual's employment (Sexual Assault Prevention and
Awareness Center, n.d.). Another complaint was also filed against Cecilia Drilon, Venancio
Borromeo and Marie Lozano which is libel. Libel is a method of defamation that is injurious to a
person's reputation, exposes a person to public hatred, or injures a person in his/her business or
profession (Cornell Law School, n.d.). An additional accusation was filed against Cecilia Drilon
which is victim shaming. Victim shaming is when the victim of an event is blamed, or partially
blamed, for their own attack which is mainly used in context with sexual harassment and sexual
assault (Urban Dictionary, n.d.)
In order for the company to hear the concerns of Gretchen Fullido, they will have to
request for a meeting with her at her most appropriate and convenient time. Ms Fullido is entitled
to bring along a lawyer. Considering that the case is already out in the public, the company will
also request for the progress of the issue to be kept within the confines of ABS- CBN
management and concerned law authorities until the investigation is over to avoid
misinformation.
Step 2: Collect Data
Upon identifying the grievances, information from all parties concerned will be collected,
through conducting an investigation with the prosecutor’s office. After which, the information
collected would go through further verification wherein, in this case of Gretchen Fullido, she
filed a sexual harassment case against former ABS-CBN executive Cheryl Favila and ABS-CBN
news segment producer Maricar Asprec on October 5, 2018. According to Ms. Gretchen Fullido,
the two accused, sent her messages with sexual implications and requests for sexual favors that
started in 2015. Contrarily, Favila and Asprec stated that their text messages do not have any
sexual implications. Favila further said that she has never sexually harassed Gretchen, and the
text messages that Gretchen shows are distorted.
She also filed libel charges against ABS-CBN executives Cecilia Drilon, Venancio
Borromeo, and news reporter Marie Lozano, as they made statements against her, damaging her
reputation by saying that she filed the sexual harassment complaints to hold onto her
employment status. Aside from that, she accused Drilon of victim-shaming, after allegedly
saying that she was willing to wear a bikini just to increase ratings. On the other hand, Borromeo
stated that Fullido’s complaint is a form of blackmail to prevent her removal as Star Patroller,
and Lozano said that she filed a complaint because she wanted to hold onto Star Patrol. Lastly,
Drilon said it was “unthinkable” for her to shame victims of sexual abuse as Fullido alleges,
because she was also a victim of sexual harassment before, and she is an advocate of women’s
rights (Rappler, 2018; Enano & Concepcion, 2018).
Step 3: Analyze and Solve the Grievance

Information collected from both parties shall be subjected to further verification. Once
results are available, the company will then conduct a meeting to discuss probable solutions that
will be based on the results.

According to the investigation, Favila and Asprec are guilty of committing sexual
harassment. Prosecutors said elements of the crime under Republic Act 7877 or the Anti-Sexual
Harassment Act exist in the case. The prosecutors deemed the messages as a “request for sexual
favors” sent by a superior with authority or moral ascendancy in the workplace (Patag, 2019). As
an ethical way of decision-making, the ABS-CBN Corporation took the findings of the
investigation into consideration. The company will then dismiss both Favila and Asprec.

On the other hand, lack of evidence caused the dismissal of the Libel case against
Borromeo, Drilon and Lozano. Due to this, the three were found out only expressing their
opinions regarding the sexual harassment case filed against the ABS-CBN executives that do not
cause any malicious imputation of a crime. With this being said, the company will arrange a
meeting between Borromeo, Drilon and Lozano and Ms Fullido in order for the two parties to
clear any misunderstanding.

The company will now work towards a sexual harassment free workplace. Providing
anti-sexual harassment policies which explains what harassment is, tell all employees that
harassment will not be tolerated, and set out how employers and employees should respond to
incidents of harassment. Anti-harassment policy should also set forth a detailed mechanism by
which employees can make complaints when sexual harassment occurs.

ABS-CBN will also provide a mechanism for addressing sexual harassment in a

confidential and sensitive manner after a grievance has been filed. Also, a well-constructed and
well-implemented plan within the organization will be provided so that it will stop inappropriate
conduct before it creates a problem for individual employees or the company.

Step 4: Prompt Redressal

Once the company chooses a solution as a decision, both the complainant (Ms. Gretchen
Fullido) and those accused shall be informed before the formal announcement and
implementation of the resolution. In this case, Favila and Asprec will be dismissed, a meeting
between Ms. Fullido and the accused libel suspects will be conducted, and programs towards
sexual harassment free workplace will take place, wherein policies will be imposed that shall
provide employees the means to address their grievances in a confidential and sensitive manner.
Step 5: Grievance Follow-up
After the solutions are implemented, the company will evaluate whether the actions taken
were effective or not. A follow up to the complainant, Ms. Fullido, will be conducted to ensure
that the grievance has been resolved completely.

In case the grievance is not yet resolved completely or the complainant is not satisfied
with the decisions and actions taken, the company will inform Ms. Fullido of her right to appeal
and will assist throughout the process. The grounds for appeal should be established by the
complainant wherein the company suggests for her to submit a grievance appeal letter explaining
why she is appealing the decision and what resolution she is seeking. The case shall then be
reviewed by the company if the appeal is approved. If needed, another investigation shall be
conducted. The company will try its best to meet the resolution that the complainant is seeking
given that it is just. Rest assured that the decisions of the company will be based on facts. Lastly,
decisions made in the appeal shall be the final decisions for the case.

*Grievance handling process adapted from BBA Mantra Grievance Handling Procedures (n.d.)

Sources:
BBA Mantra (n.d.). Grievance Handling-Forms and Procedures. Retrieved on March 17, 2020
from https://bbamantra.com/grievance-handling-forms-procedure/?fbclid=IwAR1_DX
W4K4bNeUflwWz7IaVOvxkABSFsQhn8B13xsQEfOQmDq4DpnZklMSM
Rappler. (2018, October 5). Gretchen Fullido files sexual harassment, libel complaints against
ABS-CBN execs. Retrieved on March 18, 2020 from https://www.rappler.com/entertainm
ent/news/213629-gretchen-fullido-files-complaints-vs-abs-cbn-executives-october-2018
Enano, J. & Concepcion, P. (2018, October 10). TV producer: i never harassed Gretchen Fullido.
Retrieved on March 18, 2020 from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1040990/tv-producer-i-n
ever-harassed-gretchen-fullido
Cornell Law School. (n.d.). Libel. Retrieved on March 17, 2020 from https://www.law.cornell.
edu/wex/libel
Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center. (n.d.). What is Sexual Harassment? Retrieved
on March 17, 2020 from https://sapac.umich.edu/article/what-sexual-harassment
Urban Dictionary. (n.d.). Victim Shaming. Retrieved on March 17, 2020 from
 https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.urbandictionary.com/define.php%3fterm=Victim%2
bShaming&amp=true
Patag, K. (2019, June 6). Prosecutors indict 2 in Gretchen Fullido Sexual Harassment Case.
Retrieved on March 18, 2020 from https://www.philstar.com/nation/2019/06/06/1924178/
prosecutors-indict-2-gretchen-fullido-sexual-harassment-case