In the wake of dozens of harassment allegations by municipal employees, the City of London has hired a national law firm to investigate and review its policies and practices.
Rubin Thomlinson LLP will also act as a third-party option for city workers who do not feel comfortable reporting concerns through existing channels, city officials announced on Thursday.
The law firm, which has offices in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and Vancouver, has focused solely on workplace investigations and training for decades. It offers a range of training courses, consulting and support – including workplace assessments and reviews, workplace restoration and mediation services, one-on-one remedial coaching, and workplace investigation support.
“We’ve heard from some that our policies and practices aren’t working. We take this seriously because every employee deserves to come to a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination," said the city’s HR boss Bill Coxhead. "We believe that Rubin Thomlinson LLP has the expertise to help us identify and address any areas of our current approach that aren’t working.”
Since March 8, dozens of municipal employees have shared accounts of harassment, bullying, and retaliation in the workplace with Megan Walker, head of the London Abused Women’s Centre. Many of the complaints outlined a culture of fear within the organization that became so bad for some that they chose to quit. Others described stress and anxiety that brought them to tears on a daily basis.
Walker tweeted as recently as Wednesday that her agency continued to receive workplace harassment complaints from city employees.
Word of the accusations of a poisoned work environment at city hall led London's top bureaucrat to vow to investigate all allegations across all city departments and among elected officials.
“We are going to broaden this out because every employee in this city needs to be protected… what has happened in the past is not right. Every employee needs to feel safe,” City Manager Martin Hayward said during a Corporate Services Committee meeting last month.
It was at that same meeting politicians crafted a nine-point motion to enhance the city’s workplace harassment and discrimination policy. That motion included a recommendation to hire an independent third party to investigate complaints, undertake a review of the current policy, and provide regular updates to politicians on progress made.
Rubin Thomlinson's immediate focus with the city will be on gathering information from employees in a manner that facilitates their participation in this process.
City officials have said more details about the investigation are expected in the coming weeks.
