Advice over harassment at Assembly

May 1 2008 by Claire Rees, Rhymney Valley Express

WARNINGS have been issued after a review into how the Welsh Assembly dealt with a sexual harassment complaint against a dad-of-two.

An independent review has found the six-month investigation into Penpedairheol manager Graham Evans’s conduct towards colleague Christine Davies was “fair” but it urged lessons be learned in the future.

In January, Cardiff County Court upheld complaints against 54-year-old Evans, of Penpedairheol, made by Christine Davies who said he groped and harassed her, plaguing her with telephone calls.

The court agreed in a civil case, after which Football Association of Wales referee Evans resigned from his job at the Assembly’s highways department, where he was Mrs Davies’s boss.

But, following the findings, an independent review was ordered into the way complaints taken to Mrs Davies’s bosses five years earlier had been treated.

On Tuesday it was found the original investigation, conducted in 2003/2004, was conducted with “a commitment to thoroughness and fairness” and that the conclusions reached were “reasonable under the circumstances”.

The Assembly had found there was insufficient evidence to uphold the complaint when Mrs Davies approached them for help.

The independent legal review, led by Kim Howell of leading Welsh law practice Geldards LLP, found the investigation contained weaknesses due to the new Dignity at Work Procedure being largely untested.

It recommended changes in how the Assembly deals with behaviour standards and personal grievances in the future.

Permanent secretary Sir Jon Shortridge, who ordered the review, said: “The main conclusion I take from the report is that it is essential for staff working for the Assembly Government to conduct themselves properly at all times and treat their colleagues appropriately.

“This case has shown that where members of staff fall below this standard they create problems for themselves, their colleagues and for the organisation.

“We were faced with such problems and this independent review recognises that we tried very hard to deal with the consequences in a fair, proportionate and appropriate way.”