Investigations Archives - Rubin Thomlinson

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

September 5, 2024 | By Elizabeth Bingham

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.

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

September 5, 2024 | By Tola Olupona

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.”

Say what you mean – Plain language and workplace policies

September 5, 2024 | By Bruce Best

My colleagues Christine Thomlinson and Lori-Ann Green recently wrote about how an organization’s respect at work policies, often written to comply with its legal obligations and to correspond with legislative requirements, may use legal and technical language which can be difficult to interpret, and may, from the perspective of those whom the policy is designed to protect, not be easy to navigate.1

FAQs About Workplace Restoration

July 22, 2024 | By Dana J. Campbell-Stevens

Janice Rubin and I recently completed a two-part webinar series on workplace restoration. During the sessions, we received several interesting questions, all of which we did not get the opportunity to answer. The questions were excellent and thought provoking and represent some of the questions that we are frequently asked when engaging in this work.

Benevolent sexism – I don’t need you to carry my briefcase

July 4, 2024 | By Heather Shields

I remember it like it happened yesterday. My colleague and I were packing our briefcases at the end of a long day. Another colleague approached and offered to carry my colleague’s briefcase. She declined his offer, and he offered again. She refused again, and he said, “But you’re such a little thing.” I remember this incident so clearly, even though it happened several years ago. It was disorienting and awkward.

Data and Investigation Series: How can organizations use investigation data to benefit their workplaces?

June 20, 2024 | By Alison Griggs

This is the third and final post in a series of blog posts that I wrote on data and investigations.

To recap, workplace investigations are also an invaluable source of data that organizations can use in a variety of ways – outside of the investigation process – to help their workplaces get into the zone – the optimal workplace that is characterized by respect, civility, tolerance, inclusivity, and no, or few, employment-related legal problems.

Make it your policy to review your policy: Identifying policy issues that affect workplace investigation reports

June 11, 2024 | By Liliane Gingras

In most of our workplace investigations, the organization that retains us asks us to measure our findings of fact against one or more of their policies. This means that, once we have made findings of fact, we must decide whether the respondent’s conduct has breached a policy or policies that the organization has asked us to apply.

When is enough enough?! Salanguit v. Parq Vancouver tells us when a complaint has been reasonably handled

May 21, 2024 | By Chantel Levy

We often hear horror stories about workplace complaints being handled poorly — instances where employers don’t act, investigators miss the mark, and so on and so forth. I’ll now be the bearer of good news and share what the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (“Tribunal”) recently found to be reasonable handling of a complaint in Salanguit v. Parq Vancouver and another.

Serious insight for serious situations.