Another day, another public relations headache for the City of Stratford as it finds itself in even more turmoil thanks to its use of the Respectful Workplace Policy.
And this time, it’s aimed at one of their own volunteers.
Joan Ayton has come forward and said she received an email in May concerning comments that were made at the Stratfords of the World (Ontario) advisory committee meeting on April 25. In it, City Clerk Tatiana Dafoe outlines instances where Ayton allegedly violated the policy at the SOTW meeting on the day in question.
Included in the email were claims that allege Ayton used an antagonistic tone towards staff, speaking in a manner that belittled staff, raising her voice to staff and using facial microaggressions. There were also four selected quotes said during the meeting that are alleged to have violated the policy.
Ayton, who is the advisory committee chair and has been in that position for the last seven years, said she received the email very shortly after the April 25 meeting - she estimated that it was barely more than 20 minutes after.
“I got an email from the City saying I needed to make an appointment to come in and see (Dafoe) because there were things said at the meeting that were disrespectful,” she said. “There has been no official complaint, but I refused to go in for a meeting unless the person who accused me was there as well. I’m not going to sit down with a third party who wasn’t even at the meeting and explain why I said the things I did or why I was accused of these things.”
After getting the email from the City requesting a meeting with her, Ayton said she informed other members of the committee about the alleged policy violations (something Dafoe’s email to Ayton asked her not to do). She’s not denying what she said when it comes to specific comments cited in the email, including her making light of a comment she claimed ownership of made to Council Committee Coordinator Vicki Trotter from when Trotter previously worked for another city department. It’s an easy-going committee and they treat it as such, Ayton said, and she’s not sure why or how anything she was was taken out of context.
“I never shouted at anybody. I may have emphasized some things but I certainly did not shout and every single member of the committee who was there agrees with me,” she said. “I really don’t understand how forms of microaggression and facial expressions can be considered inappropriate behaviour.”
Fellow committee member Linda Hawken corroborates Ayton’s story and doesn’t believe she did anything wrong during the meeting. Held at the Rotary Complex in the Mansbridge room, Hawken pointed out the room was set up with the desks unusually far apart which necessitated speaking louder so people across the room could hear what was being said. That, however, doesn’t constitute shouting or yelling at staff, she thinks.
“The new desks that day were farther apart than usual, so to speak with someone across the room you had to raise your voice but I don’t recall any yelling,” she said. “This was a very cordial, light-hearted meeting and there were no hostilities or something that could be considered aggressive behaviour.”
Hawken added that she wasn’t the only committee member to wonder why the policy applied to volunteers like them, adding that they were ‘of an age where you were brought up to be respectful, so we didn’t need to be told we had to be’. She added that Ayton did question Trotter repeatedly on an issue only to gain clarification on the matter, but nobody appeared to take that as anything other than that.
That sentiment was echoed by Kathy Hill, another committee member who was at the April 25 meeting. In her words, Ayton runs the meetings in a low-key and efficient manner and makes sure people are respectful of each other’s views and opportunities to express an opinion.
“We’re all friendly and nobody gets yelled at,” Hill said. “If somebody tries to speak over somebody else, Joan will stop them and allow the first person to finish - we never have any problems like what was described at our meetings.”
Hill recalls the exchange between Ayton and Trotter where Ayton repeatedly asked for clarification on a point - concerning committee members being renewed to be on the advisory committee - and says that Ayton did press for an answer.
“She was like, ‘when is that going to happen?’, and Vicki said she didn’t know but was going to find out,” Hill said. “That happened two or three times, but not at the same time. It was over the course of the meeting, almost like she wanted to reiterate that we needed to have this information and that we were doing this without even really being appointed by the city. I don’t know if the city construed that as battering, but I know the intent wasn’t there. Joan wasn’t being rude about it.”
Following some consideration, Ayton contacted city administration to request a meeting with Karmen Krueger, Stratford’s director of corporate services, but has not been able to schedule anything as of yet. In fact, she was told by Krueger that the matter was closed. She also attempted to get answers from council - including Counc. Geza Wordofa, who attends SOTW meetings as the council representative.
In a brief statement to Stratford Today, Wordofa said he neither heard nor saw Ayton do anything disrespctful. Dafoe and Krueger were also contacted, and Dafoe issued the following statement (but declined to answer any of Stratford Today’s specific questions):
“There have been no formal complaints filed under the Respectful Workplace Policy involving any member of our various council advisory committees,” she said. “I would note the City of Stratford treats respect in the workplace issues, if and when they happen, to be private and confidential to the parties involved. The City will not tolerate any behaviour that is hostile, offensive, humiliating and denies people their dignity and respect in our workplace. All City employees, council members and members of the public have a responsibility to treat people with respect. Creating a safe and respectful workplace and public space is a shared responsibility.”
Hill feels there is an expanding gray area that is rapidly making it difficult for volunteers to feel free to speak up and voice their opinions when they might have to guard what they’re going to say lest they inadvertently offend someone.
“In a private room, in a meeting with a group of people that are trying to get something done .. being told that they can’t say this and that if it’s in opposition to someone else’s viewpoint, how do you get anything done?” she asked. “You’re afraid to say anything, and you don’t want to promote things going on like that because people won’t want to volunteer. We should be treated like adults, not children that are running back to the principal to say this and that happened and I want something done about it. Nothing good comes from a meeting where there isn’t conflict that gets resolved - it doesn’t necessarily end with good decisions.”
The issue is already growing into topics of conversation well beyond the City’s immediate boundaries, as Hill pointed to two separate incidents where she and her husband were approached by people in Northern Ontario and Calgary who’d heard about the turmoil around the Policy’s use.
“This is not a small thing - it’s on the news and people are hearing about it,” she said. “This is embarrassing.”
Ayton is still looking for an explanation as to why this happened.
“As I’ve said, we’ve always been a fun and easy-going committee,” she said. “It’s just beyond me why this happened.”
