Reflections and news direct from Rubin Thomlinson.
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In our workplace investigation training sessions, we often talk about “the four pillars” of the investigation process — fairness, thoroughness, timeliness, and confidentiality — as the foundation of a solid investigation. Here, I briefly explain how “cancel culture” can impact fairness, thoroughness, and confidentiality.
As workplace investigators, it is important to be mindful of how you frame your questions when interviewing parties to an investigation. Framing is even more important when engaged in discussions about an individual’s identity (e.g., sexual orientation, race, nationality, religion, etc.).
My first experience with a workplace investigation was vicariously first-hand, when a close friend of mine was named as a respondent and I became their de facto support person. The investigation was ongoing for three months. During that time, my friend ate, slept, and breathed that investigation.
It has become somewhat of a Rubin Thomlinson tradition to host a webinar at the beginning of each year outlining our top 10 workplace investigation cases from the previous year. On January 14, 2021, we hosted our most well-attended webinar yet: The top 10 cases of 2020. Here are the discussed themes and a very brief summary of the presentation.
It seems like every time I see the news or read the paper, there are stories of trauma everywhere. This is partially because, sometimes, these are the stories the media features for “clicks.” But I think, more importantly, this is because trauma is just incredibly prevalent in the human experience.
It can hardly be disputed that Black people celebrate just about everything, and we don’t just celebrate, we brand it – Black love, Black success, Black business, Black education, Black fatherhood, Black motherhood, Black girl magic, Black television, Black music, Black literature, Black everything. As you read this, you may be thinking, “Okay, we get it.” If that is your reaction, then perhaps you don’t. Perhaps you do not understand why we celebrate as we do.
One of the most off-putting questions I have ever been asked is, “Do you consider yourself to be Black?” To say that I was flabbergasted would be an understatement. The irony is that the question was asked in the midst of the individual communicating to me how much they detest racism and microaggressions. In response, I inquired why they would ask such a question. They proceeded to say, “I don’t consider you to be Black. I consider you to be Brown.” My struggle in the moment was that I knew that the individual meant no harm.
Growing up in a predominantly white town, I was the only Black girl in my school. To add to that, my family and I were the only Black family in the town. To be completely frank with you, I barely saw any Black people other than myself and my family. I recall Black History Month never really being celebrated or even acknowledged in the schools I attended, and I did not see it in our history books. Lucky for me, I was exposed to the richness of Black culture and history at such a young age through books, television, and movies.
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