The Mongoose Case 1936
The BBC Chairman, R C Norman, and senior managers allowed themselves to become embarrassingly embroiled in a private dispute between a member of staff and a member of the public.

R C Norman

Rex Lambert, founding editor of The Listener, brought an action for slander against retired colonel Sir Cecil Levita, after Levita suggested to Lambert's line manager that Lambert was unfit to sit on the board of the recently formed British Film Institute (of which Lady Levita was also a member). Sir Cecil argued that Lambert was off his head because he had published an article about a house haunted by a talking mongoose – hence the episode became known as 'the Mongoose Case'.

Rex Lambert

Lambert persisted with and won his action despite pressure from Sir Stephen Tallents, Controller of Administration, (prompted by the Chairman, who was a friend of Sir Cecil) to withdraw.

Such was the profile of the case that the Government commissioned an inquiry into the conditions and treatment of staff. As a result, personnel policies and conditions were redrafted using the Civil Service as a model.