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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

Love is in the air? Investigating romantic relationships in the workplace

At some point in their careers, most investigators will be asked to investigate a matter involving a workplace romantic relationship. I have certainly seen my fair share of these cases over the years. In this blog, I provide an overview of the circumstances that may lead to an investigation into a workplace romantic relationship, and tips on how to conduct such an investigation.

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Who is impartial? Reflections on Toronto Metropolitan Faculty Association v. Toronto Metropolitan University

One of our core responsibilities as workplace investigators is to be impartial. The reasons for this are probably obvious: if we were to conduct an investigation with a predetermined idea of the outcome, or if we were to favour one party over the other, our investigation would not be fair, and participants would have no reason to trust in the integrity of the investigation process.

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Does your organization have investigation overwhelm? Here’s how you can tell.

There is no question that internal investigations are resource intensive. They need to be done fast, but thoroughly. They need to be done by people who have an appropriate skill level. Parties to an investigation need to be treated fairly and in a manner that is trauma informed.

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Beyond harassment and discrimination investigations: Investigating employee honesty, loyalty, and integrity

For many years prior to joining Rubin Thomlinson LLP, my work involved the investigation of matters that did not relate to harassment or discrimination. I held in-house roles in the private and public sectors that involved the oversight of whistleblower programs.

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A deep dive on deepfakes: Considering the intersection between investigations and deepfake technology

By now, you’ve probably heard about deepfakes. Maybe you followed the story of Taylor Swift, who was targeted by deepfakes that appeared to show her endorsing Donald Trump, or maybe you’ve seen concerns raised about how deepfakes of politicians could impact our next election here in Canada.

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Why reply? Reflecting on the significance of reply interviews in a workplace investigation

As a workplace investigator and a team lead for a group of fellow RT investigators, I spend a fair amount of time thinking about reply interviews. Anyone who has conducted an investigation themselves or reviewed an investigator’s report can probably appreciate why: the reply or follow-up interview is a place where the need to balance the fairness, neutrality, thoroughness, and confidentiality of the investigation really comes into focus.

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A funky situation: Is disciplining an employee for body odour a form of discrimination?

A random question occurred to me the other day, “Could disciplining an employee due to their body odour be a form of discrimination?” This question occurred to me when I did a double take reading the headline of the Washington Post article, “Lawsuit says American Airlines kicked 8 Black men off plane, citing body odor.”

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