Anti-racism group at UWindsor speaks out against new whistleblowing hotline
Not everyone is supporting the University of Windsor's new approach to reporting misconduct.
A member of an anti-racism group at the university says the group was not consulted on the new whistleblowing policy and that he's concerned it could be used as a weapon.
"People of various minority groups can get targeted around whistleblowing," said Richard Douglass-Chin, University of Windsor associate professor and member of the university's Racialized Academics & Advocates Centering Equity and Solidarity group (RAACES).
The University of Windsor launched a hotline for faculty and staff to report suspected misconduct earlier this month. The Whistleblower Safe Disclosure hotline is being run in partnership with the accounting firm Grant Thornton.
Douglass-Chin says he's aware of instances where anonymous complaints were abused to target individuals.
"Minorities were fingered for perceived infractions that really have nothing to do with things like finance and regulatory requirements and research misconduct," Douglass-Chin said. "But [they] were called across the carpet for such things by anonymous people. I've seen minority faculty climb the ladder in terms of profession and people haul them down in terms of fingering them for things that were not true."
While he acknowledges that whistleblowing is a good thing and that there are protections available to potential whistleblowers, Douglass-Chin wants to see that integrated into the policy.
"Nowhere did we see that," he said.
Douglass-Chin also said he wants to see a more comprehensive reporting system created in consultation with groups like RAACES. He cites the IN-SIGHT tool at Queen's University as the benchmark.
"They're very clear about who this is for and what this is for and that incidents of harassment and discrimination are going to be protected by this hotline," Douglass-Chin said. "Whereas at University of Windsor, I'm not seeing that. I don't see any kinds of balances and protections in place for that."
Douglass-Chin also has concerns about what Grant Thornton will do with the data collected. In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Grant Thornton said the company could not discuss "confidential client information," but that they would comply with Canadian privacy laws and regulations.
RAACES sent a letter to the university's president, chancellor and chairperson of the board of governors. The letter outlined their concerns, fears about what could happen and what they want to see happen.
In response to the concerns brought up by RAACES and Douglass-Chin, the University of Windsor issued a statement to CBC News, saying that the institution is "committed to working with all stakeholders and will be having further discussions to address any concerns and provide clarification where needed."
"At their core, these policies are about protecting members of the university community when they choose to make a disclosure," the statement continued. "We take concerns about privacy and equity very seriously and look forward to working together to make this a successful program."
Another group that is not pleased with the University of Windsor's whistleblower policy is the Windsor University Faculty Association (WUFA). The professors' union filed an official grievance against the university, saying they, like RAACES, were not consulted when the policy was created. The complaint also says that the policy is in violation of their collective agreement with the University of Windsor.
WUFA's grievance states that they want the university to acknowledge the whistleblower policy is in violation of their collective agreement. WUFA also wants the policy to be postponed until they have talked with the university to make sure it complies with their collective agreement.
Nobody at WUFA was made available for comment.
