Free Speech, but with limits: The Noreau case and the boundaries of workplace expression
Can freedom of expression be invoked to justify disrespectful remarks or the disclosure of confidential information in the workplace?
Category: Confidentiality
Liberté d’expression sous condition : l’affaire Noreau clarifie les limites en milieu travail
Peut-on invoquer la liberté d’expression pour justifier des propos irrespectueux ou la divulgation d’informations confidentielles en milieu de travail?
C-Suite Investigations: Reflections on investigating allegations against senior leaders
You receive an anonymous complaint through your whistleblowing portal that your CFO is having an affair with a subordinate. Your board receives a complaint that your CEO is creating a toxic work environment. Some of the most challenging complaints for organizations to address are complaints against C-level employees and other members of senior leadership.
Twelve tips for conducting workplace investigation interviews virtually
I sometimes find it hard to believe that we are already coming up to the fifth anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic forcing us to quickly learn to work online. Here at RT, we remember having to rapidly adjust to conducting investigation interviews virtually (meaning by videoconference or telephone). Up to that point, most workplace investigation interviews were conducted in-person.
Broken promises: The perils of guaranteeing anonymity to complainants in workplace investigations
At the outset of an investigation, a complainant may ask whether their identity will be disclosed to the person who is the subject of the complaint (the “respondent”). Investigators need to be careful about how they answer that question.
Alarming allegations, child witnesses, and bias: Lessons from a public school investigation
Conducting an investigation that is thorough, fair, confidential, and timely is, to speak plainly, complicated work. Investigators must make many difficult judgement calls during the process, including which witnesses to interview, which records, texts, and emails to review, and how to weigh the various types of evidence when making findings of fact.
Representative or witness? Be certain before you proceed
As workplace investigators, we regularly conduct interviews where the interviewee is accompanied by a representative from their union or association. Many collective agreements have provisions that allow employees to have their representative present during any interviews that are conducted as part of a workplace investigation, regardless of whether the employee participates as a party to the investigation or as a witness.
In-house intel for internal investigators
Before joining Rubin Thomlinson, we both worked in-house in large organizations, overseeing workplace investigations. Internal investigations can be tricky to navigate; opportunities for conflicts and confidentiality breaches are heightened when investigators work among those who they are investigating.
