Tuesday, March 13, 2018 - The following statement can be attributed to Mayor

Matt Brown.

On Friday, Megan Walker approached my office with a number of very serious

allegations, a list of demands, and a deadline of 5pm on Monday.

Responding publicly to allegations and information collected by a third party is

not the way to resolve any issue. We have an obligation to our employees to
keep these types of matters confidential and private and we will continue to do
so.

While we are unable to speak to the specific information being provided to the
media through a third party, what I can tell you is that City Manager Martin
Hayward has my full support. We will continuously and repeatedly reiterate our
commitment to ensuring a workplace that is free of harassment or discrimination
of any kind.

Over the last year, as a Council, we have made significant changes and we are
seeing improvements in workplace culture. These improvements take time.

It’s important for all staff working at the Corporation of the City of London to
understand there are many options available to them should they feel the need to
reach out for any reason.

There is an intake process, internal and external human resources

representatives, a workplace harassment and discrimination prevention policy,
access to support from union organizations and employees also have the ability
to reach out to the Labour Relations Board or the Human Rights Tribunal.

The #MeToo and #TimesUp movement is important and necessary. Right now,
we see individuals from all sectors coming forward with stories of harassment
and violence in unprecedented volumes. We need to make sure our policies and
practices are designed so they protect everyone.
Often times being a leader means dealing with difficult and sensitive information;
it means working through appropriate channels and not negotiating in the media
or giving in to ultimatums, but rather taking a careful look at a situation and taking
appropriate action.

If we need to make adjustments to our policies, we will.

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Media Contact:

Ashton Patis
Advisor, Communications and Media Relations
Office of Mayor Matt Brown
City of London

Cell: 519 854 7141

apatis@london.ca | www.london.ca