Harassment, bullying and racism allegations against 2 senior TRU leaders under investigation
CBC
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Two senior administrators at a B.C. university are under investigation after several current and former staff and faculty members came forward with allegations of anti-Indigenous racism and bullying behaviour. One of them is also accused of sexual harassment.
Matt Milovick, the vice president of finance and administration at Thompson Rivers University (TRU), and his subordinate Larry Phillips, the assistant vice president of people and culture, are accused of fostering a toxic workplace at the Kamloops university, according to documents obtained by CBC News and interviews with more than a dozen people. The allegations against Phillips include sexual harassment.
Those who've complained about the two men also allege university leadership are dragging their feet on the investigation, and they've asked — unsuccessfully — for the B.C. government to step in.
The terms of reference for the school's investigation, led by lawyers Kelly Serbu of Halifax and Sharon Cartmill-Lane of Victoria, say it will include possible violations of, among other things, the B.C. Human Rights Code, TRU's memorandum of understanding with the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc, workplace safety regulations and the school's policies on diversity, sexualized violence and harassment.
The investigation was launched in response to a Feb. 8 letter from an anonymous group addressed to TRU's board of governors along with other executives and deans, according to the terms of reference document.
The Feb. 8 message says the authors have been in contact with at least 11 current and former TRU employees "who report directly witnessing, or being the victims of, discriminatory conduct, discriminatory statements and/or harassment" by Milovick and Phillips.
None of the allegations have been proven.
CBC News has reached out to both Milovick and Phillips with detailed questions about the allegations against them. Phillips has yet to respond.
Milovick said in an email that he received the terms of reference for the investigation on Monday and he acknowledges there will be an investigation into his professional conduct. He did not respond to any of the specific allegations.
"I welcome the opportunity to fully participate in this process. I will not be making any further comments at this time," Milovick wrote.
A statement from TRU about the investigation says the university is taking the matter seriously and formed a sub-committee immediately after learning of the allegations.
"The sub-committee acted quickly and went to great lengths to ensure that all these independent resources have extensive experience handling similar matters, while having no prior relationships with TRU," Marilyn McLean, the chair of the university's board of governors, said in the statement.
"Furthermore, the sub-committee has worked together with the independent and Indigenous investigators, and legal counsel to put all appropriate and defensible safeguards in place for the complainants, in order to … maintain the integrity of the investigation."
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