Should Chris Cuomo’s Employer Judge Him

Media talent Chris Cuomo

Headlines

Former CNN anchor Chris Cuomo: 'I was going to kill everybody and myself' after firing (Business Insider)

Chris Cuomo Confesses He Was Ready To “Kill Everybody, Including Myself” After CNN Firing (Deadline)

Chris Cuomo may not have thought his comments out well when admitting violent thoughts and impulses. His current employer, NewsNation, had to wince and maybe wonder if they are employing someone they can reliably trust in their business relationship

I’ve told the following story before, yet not in Communication Intelligence.

Years ago, a talented, personable co-worker, angry at management’s excessive understaffing that required intense work loads and regularly staying very late to complete work, made a comment one night that he was going to come into work one day and shoot up the place.

Someone reported him and he was immediately, justifiably terminated.

I ran into him soon thereafter at another place where we both worked and he came up to me and smiled and said he didn’t mean it. You know what? I believe him.

Yet he should have known better than to say what he did (although him doing so and being giving his walking papers may have prevented traumatic injuries and loss of lives). He was deserving of his firing. If he was honest, he likely knew it too.

Yet what about Cuomo? How could he have come to believe he could publicly confess his darkest impulses without it becoming headline news and negative public relations for him and his current employer?

“A huge public shift in favor of authenticity for 2023,” says Mary Cannon, a a business attorney at Private Corporate Counsel.

Mary Cannon, attorney at Mary Cannon Law

A reasonable debate point could be whether Cuomo was blowing off steam, — using poor judgment in doing so — or whether he is potentially dangerous to his current co-workers and bosses as being prone to violent thoughts and impulses, and thus, being a moral and legal risk for his superiors.

“I would not recommend hiring (or retaining) someone who made these public statements,” Cannon says. “The risks and liability are tremendous — literally potential blood on my clients’ hands — and there are plenty of other qualified candidates.”

Cuomo supporters or the general public could counter with this story being much ado about nothing, with him being human and naturally thinking such thoughts of a past employer — and that he is no risk moving forward.

Others might counter that Cuomo is unstable and “high risk” and should not be employable in the media. What he communicated appeared unstable and could forevermore be associated with his name.

“I can only assume his professional opportunities will be limited,” Cannon forecasts. “However, I am certain he can do fine on his own if he wants to continue his career in media. In the age of social media, he really has no need for a cable TV show.”