On January 10, the Financial Post reported on TMX Group announcing their CEO would retire early. This news came less than two months after years-old allegations of harassment were raised about him in the media.
Ultimately no evidence was found that Mr. Eccleston engaged in sexual harassment or sexual misconduct while employed at TMX, but in a statement board chair Charles Winograd said the board accepted Eccleston’s decision to retire and recognized his “outstanding efforts” since taking on the CEO role in October 2014.
Prof. Richard LeBlanc from the School of Administrative Studies says the board did the right thing by forming a special committee and retaining an independent investigator.
“This is all best governance practice,” he said, adding that an expanded scope to include “pre-TMX conduct” as part of the investigation would have been complicated in terms of getting access to witnesses and documents.
“This is likely why the investigation was narrow,” he said.
Companies engaged in this type of process are also likely to review disclosure and background check requirements for hiring senior executives, said Leblanc.
“Boards are much less forgiving for reputational risk now, even if it was in the distant past,” he said.
Head to the Financial Post to read the full article.