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Lately, I have had the opportunity to assist a number of employees who have had the unfortunate displeasure of being the recipients of a harassment complaint against them; let’s call them the “Respondents” for ease of reference. Each Respondent has expressed to me their initial reactions to the complaints. They are remarkably similar. They tell
“In my view, it would be contrary to the public interest for the Commission to avoid liability for costs in situations where it has mishandled a complaint to the degree seen in this case.” In Tessier v. Nova Scotia (Human Rights Commission) et al 2014 NSSC 65 (CanLII), the Nova Scotia Supreme Court (NSSC) ruled
“I feel the need, the need for speed.” For those of us raised in the 80s, this is the battle cry of Top Gun’s Maverick and Goose. But for many folks tasked with conducting internal workplace investigations, this quote may also call to mind the manager, lawyer, union leader, complainant or Board member that puts
“I find that the policy in place at the time was not an effective discrimination and harassment policy with respect to racial discrimination. To be a reasonable policy, it would minimally require a definition of discrimination.” Having found the internal investigation seriously flawed in the matter of Cromwell v. Leon’s Furniture Limited (2014 CanLII 16399
“I cannot reasonably conclude that an investigation conducted by a manager who has been in a romantic relationship with the Complainant is reasonable or appropriate in these circumstances.” That is just one of the investigation flaws found by NSHRC Chair, Kathryn Raymond, in the matter of Cromwell v. Leon’s Furniture Limited in a decision rendered
The extent to which an investigation report must be disclosed is not yet a settled issue in the case law. While solicitor-client privilege is at times used by lawyers to withhold reports from the parties, a recent decision from British Columbia’s Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (the “IPC”) has now added privacy legislation
One of the frequent questions we are asked when conducting our workplace investigation training is, “When faced with conflicting evidence at the end of a workplace investigation, how can we make decisions about the relative credibility of the parties and witnesses?” Even more challenging can be articulating the reasons why you believe the evidence of
Just last week, I wrote about the Miami Dolphins’ swift and effective response to offensive tweets posted by a player in response to the NFL’s draft of its first openly gay player, Michael Sam. Within a week, news of offensive and sexist e-mails written by Richard Scudamore, the Chief Executive of the Premier League, were
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