Russell McVeagh partner resigns following investigation into drunken behaviour
Thursday, 11 October 2018
A partner at national law firm Russell McVeagh has resigned following an independent investigation into complaints about inappropriate comments made while drunk.
Board chairman Malcolm Crotty said after a thorough investigation which upheld the complaint, the partner apologised and quit.
'We are deeply disappointed in the partner at the centre of the investigation.
'Our firm is committed to changing the culture of our organisation and we all recognise that change requires collective and long-term commitment.
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'All partners in the firm agreed to uphold and lead the change,' Crotty said.
The firm revealed late last month a partner was under investigation following a complaint of inappropriate comments made at a recent client event.
The partner was banned from work while the investigation was carried out.
'The partner concerned let the firm down and we have now lost trust and confidence in him,' Crotty continued.
'The board determined that his conduct has fallen below our expected standards and we have accepted his resignation.'
Wellington Women Lawyers' Association convener Steph Dyhrberg said she applauded the victim for coming forward, and Russell McVeagh for responding the way it did.
She called the resignation 'accountability in action'.
'That's tremendous progress from where the firm was even a few short months ago.'
Dyhrberg was not surprised to learn incidents like this took place in the legal profession, despite recent attempts to crack down on the harassment of young lawyers.
'If people in positions of authority don't have any insight about the unacceptable nature of their actions, and that if they get caught they'll be held accountable, they'll keep doing it until they're stopped.'
Russell McVeagh announced last month Jo Avenell would replace Gary McDiarmid as chief executive of the firm, in what it said was a pivotal moment in its continued transformation following revelations of a booze-fuelled bullying culture.
The appointment came on the back of a report published by Dame Margaret Bazley in July, triggered by claims of sexual misconduct involving summer interns around December 2015.
'This is a critically important appointment for our firm as we continue on our journey to building a safe, inclusive, and people-focused culture that will underpin our future success,' Crotty said at the time.
Bazley's report took four months to compile and took into account interviews with 250 people.
While most people interviewed felt it was a 'great place to work', others told Bazley the law firm had a work-hard, play-hard culture 'that involved excessive drinking and in some instances crude, drunken, and sexually inappropriate behaviour'.
Otago, Canterbury, Waikato, Auckland, AUT, and Victoria universities announced in March they were rejecting any recruitment branding and Russell McVeagh-related events on their campuses until after Bazley's report was released.
When the report was released, the universities said they were proceeding cautiously to determine whether their relationships with the firm would resume.