Nobody likes doing dirty laundry
MacDonald threatens for legal action after being exposed as being under the city bureaucrats' payroll
MacDonald's e-mail leaked

Released on May 04, 2015 at 21:00
Tag #: 678
Human Resources: Cover-up, denial and gross incompetence

Allegations against Fowke surfaced

Fowke: Incompetent and negligent

Fowke: Human Resources Disaster , Must step-down

The City of Greater Sudbury is facing crisis in managing human resources issues under the direct supervision of Kevin Fowke, Director of Human Resources and Organizational Development. Fowke has utilized his usual common tactics to cover-up these issues rather than addressing them. Furthermore he has recently admitted that over 25% of the current sick leave has a direct link to workplace unrest. For instance, a large number of employees in the Water and Wastewater division are on stress leave due to abusive behaviours on behalf of divisional director Nick Benkovich and his supervisors. Indeed it is Fowke who has provided material support to departmental supervisors and managers allowing them to continue their harassing and vexatious conduct against employees. 

Undisclosed amount paid to cover-up sexual harassment case against Fowke
A sexual harassment case against Fowke was filed before the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. The matter, however, was differed pending outcome of the grievance and arbitration procedure.  Fowke was jubilant when the union decided to drop the grievance and redirect the matter to the Human Rights Tribunal. Fowke seemingly expected to dismiss the case and utilized resources available to him without limit. 

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal reopened the sexual harassment case against Fowke and Dawn J. Kershaw, Vice Chair of the Tribunal, issued his decision on August 07, 2013 (Citation 2013 HRTO 1359). Fowke again hired Mireille Khoraych City's cover-up lawyer from the Toronto-based legal firm and heavily engaged in damaging the reputation of the victim. While attempting to dismiss the application, in his fight, Fowke utilized every resource available to him and yet expensed his unnecessary and perfectly preventable legal fees to the tax payers. Finally, The Tribunal’s Vice Chair, Geneviève Debané issued the interim decision on the 24th day of January, 2014.  It sated that within seven days of the date of this Interim Decision, they agreed to attend Mediation and that this matter would be scheduled for a two day hearing in Sudbury (Citation 2014 HRTO 107).

Fowke immediately surrendered on a bent knee before justice and agreed to mediation in order to avoiding the scandal of the matter going public. The City paid an undisclosed amount of tax dollars in settlement fees but, regrettably, the burden passed on to the tax payers. 

Supervisors took extra mileage with the support of Fowke and sexual harassment and vexatious conduct continued
According to the leaked e-mail sent by a supervisor to Carole Sylvestre, Rehabilitation & Claims Specialist of The City of Greater Sudbury, he requested to have contact with victim (see leaked email 01).

Sylvestre denied the request and the supervisor sent an e-mail to Fowke. It reads: "There you have it. Her needs trump ours." (See leaked email 02). These e-mails clearly indicate Fowke's involvement.

Fowke spent over $200,000.00 tax dollars as legal fees on human rights proceedings to cover up wrong doings of Nick Benkovich, Director Water and Wastewater Services.

Scammed Taxpayers
Fowke does not hesitate using tax dollars to hire external lawyers to cover-up the wrongdoings of departmental supervisors and managers. An example of one of the major issues he has failed to properly address is that of the supervisors’ and managers’ violation of collective agreement. As of August 2011, it has consequently cost tax payers $ 321,112.77. Fowke's negligence is highlighted in every corner of labour relations. Take the following dispute for example; the dispute concerned a meal allowance of $6.25 in which case Fowke took extraordinary action and the matter was directed to arbitration. His poor decision making cost tax payers thousands of dollars only to have the matter finally settled in favour of employee.

Labour and employment legal fees continually rise under the direct watch of Fowke. He has never attempted to actually address the issues and solve them yet does not hesitate to utilize tax dollars to cover them up. As such, labour and employment legal expenses have increased over 200% during his reign. Details are as follows.

Details of Labour and employment legal expenses 2005-2011

Nepotism and tax dollars scamming continue
Fowke teamed up with gravy obsessed bureaucrats and utilized the same lawyer from a Toronto-based legal firm. This legal firm has, as a result, pocketed a $ 717,123.22 pay cheque for their work and by now this amount has exceeded in the millions.

Incompetent Fowke must step-down
Fowke has failed to manage the human resources issues within the City of Greater Sudbury. It is now, therefore, the time for Fowke to step-down. In the best interests of the tax payers, new political leadership at City hall must take stern action against incompetence such as Fowke’s without any delay.

Related Articles

Editorial
Released on May 05, 2015 at 21:00  EDT

This research paper initially published Harvard Business Review, 76(1). Brief overview and excerpts from the article as follows. 

Change, Change, and More Change
HR activities appear be and often are disconnected from the real work of an organization

HOULD WE do away with HR? In recent years, a number of people who study and write about business-along with many who run businesses have been debating that question. The debate arises out of serious and widespread doubts about HR's contribution to organizational performance. But the truth is, HR has never been more necessary. The competitive forces that managers face today and will continue to confront in the future demand organizational excellence. The efforts to achieve such excellence - through a focus on learning, quality, teamwork, and reengineering-are driven by the way organizations get things done and bow they treat their people. Those are fundamental HR issues. To state it plainly: achieving organizational excellence must be the work of HR.

Make no mistake: this new agenda for HR is a radical departure from the status quo. In most companies today, HR is sanctioned mainly to play policy police and regulatory watchdog. It handles the paperwork involved in hiring and firing, manages the bureaucratic aspects of benefits, and administers compensation decisions made by others. When it is more empowered by senior management, it might oversee recruiting, manage training and development programs, or design initiatives to increase workplace diversity. But the fact remains: the activities of HR appear to be-and often are disconnected from the real work of the organization.

Perhaps the greatest competitive challenge companies face is adjusting to-indeed, embracing-non stop change. They must be able to learn rapidly and continuously, innovate ceaselessly, and take on new strategic imperatives faster and more comfortably. Constant change means organizations must create a healthy discomfort with the status quo, an ability to detect emerging trends quicker than the competition, an ability to make rapid decisions, and the agility to seek new ways of doing business. To thrive, in other words, companies will need to be in a never-ending state of transformation, perpetually creating fundamental, enduring change.

Work today is more demanding than ever - employees are continually being asked to do more with less. And as companies withdraw the old employment contract, which was based on security and predictable promotions, and replace it with faint promises of trust, employees respond in kind. Their relationship with the organization becomes transactional. They give their time but not much more. That kind of curtailed contribution is a recipe for organizational failure. Companies cannot thrive unless their employees are engaged fully. Engaged employees-that is, employees who believe they are valued-share ideas, work harder than the necessary minimum, and relate better to customers, to name just three benefits. In their new role, HR professionals-must he held accountable for ensuring that employees are engaged- that they feel committed to the organization and contribute fully. In the past, HR sought that commitment by attending to the social needs of employees-picnics, parties. United Way campaigns, and so on. While those activities must still he organized, HR's new agenda supersedes them. HR must now take responsibility for orienting and training line management about the importance of high employee morale and how to achieve it. In addition, the new HR, should be the employees' voice in management discussions offer employees opportunities for personal and professional growth; and provide resources that help employees meet the demands put on them.

Editor
WikiLeaks Sudbury
May 05, 2015