Barrie council has released a statement on an ongoing workplace harassment investigation.
It says:
Over the course of the last eight weeks, City Council met on several occasions with respect to a workplace investigation matter involving a Councillor. Council takes allegations of harassment very seriously and wish to be clear that it directed that City personnel take appropriate steps in accordance with City policies, by-laws and procedures to address the matter, and that resolution has been concluded in a manner that respected the request of the employee in this case as well as the process which governs all employers. Council has maintained an unwavering commitment to respect the employee’s own request for privacy throughout the process. However, Council’s adherence to their expectation of confidentiality has meant and resulted in a limited ability to share details and action concerning this matter. This does not and should not be taken to mean that Council has not been acting diligently on the matter.
On October 20th, General Committee voted to not extend the time permitted for a complaint to be submitted to the Integrity Commissioner beyond the timeline specified within the Code of Conduct.
Also that night, General Committee voted on a motion to receive legal advice on the matter. While that motion at General Committee was also not passed, a revised motion was unanimously passed at City Council on October 26th to seek legal advice to continue the process. At no time did Council vote to suspend, block, or slow down an investigation of this matter.
In addition, the allegations of procedural irregularities in the handling of the complaint by City staff have now been settled between the City and the employee. As part of the resolution, details are to remain confidential to protect the privacy of the employee and discussions regarding same.
External legal counsel with expertise in human resources and municipal law has been retained to review City staff’s handling of the complaint and will include recommendations on possible further changes to policy and procedures on how complaints are dealt with in the future. It is expected that this work will be conducted in early 2021 with a report back to Council at that time.
Council says several public motions were passed by Council over the past eight weeks and for more details on those, please click here.
City Council Statement re: Workplace Investigation: https://t.co/VAREHLdL7m
— The City of Barrie (@cityofbarrie) December 22, 2020