An investigation commissioned by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in response to complaints put forward by John Clarke and Anicka Fast, who were abruptly terminated in August 2023, found that “MCC processes and some decision making by senior personnel as a whole … is reasonably understood to fall within the threshold of harassment as defined by MCC’s Workplace Harassment and Violence Policy.”
The report was conducted by Edmonton-based Veritas Solutions, which describes itself as “the foremost human resource risk management, workplace, regulatory, and sport investigations consulting firm in Western Canada.”
A two-page summary of the Veritas report was provided to Clarke and Fast on December 31 and is posted on the website of MCC Abuse Survivors Together (MAST).
The full report is not public. The summary includes no names.
MCC response
MCC said they are unable to comment on the report given that a legal process is underway (see below). MCC also declined to disclose how much the Veritas investigation cost.
MCC’s earlier response to concerns raised by Clarke, Fast and other former workers can be found here. It acknowledges that complaints have been made and says the organization is open to learning and listening. MCC has not made its Canada and U.S. executive directors available for an interview since an initial request last July.
Terminated in 2023
As reported earlier by CM, Clarke and Fast were terminated while on combined vacation and stress leave from a highly demanding post in conflict-ridden Burkina Faso in 2023.
Prior to termination, Clarke served as country representative while Fast was seconded to Mennonite World Conference and Mennonite Mission Network in addition to her MCC duties.
At the time of their firing, Fast had received an initial diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which was later confirmed. Clarke was also subsequently diagnosed with PTSD. The couple were also awaiting response to concerns about abuse of power and workplace harassment by MCC personnel that the couple had reported to the executive directors and the MCC Canada board chair.
Money and non-disclosure
In a proposed “Separation Agreement,” MCC offered the couple approximately $160,000 plus unspecified moving and medical expenses if they signed a legal document by which they would give up all rights to recourse, grievance or complaint and would commit to never disclose details of the agreement or speak negatively about MCC.
The agreement stated that if Fast and Clarke did not sign it, they would receive approximately $118,000 less. They did not sign.
Veritas findings
The Veritas report summary deals primarily with events prior to the termination. In finding that senior staff as a whole engaged in harassment, the summary says, “The lack of communication, clarity, and responsiveness involving the implementation and application of policy is not consistent with a reasonable interpretation of policy expectations.”
Additionally, the summary says the behaviour of one unnamed MCC staff person “reasonably constituted a violation of MCC’s Workplace Harassment and Violence Policy” with respect to a failure to properly address and investigate Clarke’s claim of workplace harassment while working for MCC.
The summary found another violation of the same MCC policy with respect to one person who “repeatedly” failed to respond to Clarke’s questions concerning HR processes.
The report clears other MCC staff named in Clarke and Fast’s complaints, saying they did not violate MCC’s Workplace Harassment and Violence Policy.
With respect to whether MCC’s actions amount to “bribery”—presumably in relation to the offer of additional money in exchange for non-disclosure commitments—Veritas said it “did not find evidence to support that any of the Respondents engaged in behaviour that may reasonably constitute criminal behaviour.”
The Veritas summary also said “the evidence does not support” a finding that MCC’s actions constituted “retaliation” against the couple.
Other than that, it says nothing about the termination, though the question of whether the termination was justified was key to Clarke and Fast’s complaint.
Trust in process
Clarke and Fast say they declined to participate in the investigation because, among other reasons, they had no say in the choice of investigator, the initial mandate stated the report would go only to the MCC HR department (the couple would not even receive a summary), and MCC failed to provide them with access to their own emails and messages from their time with MCC.
Though MCC later responded to some of the couple’s concerns—moving toward providing access to documents and promising that the board would receive a full report and the couple would receive a summary—they still say they lacked overall confidence that MCC was committed to getting to the bottom of possible wrongdoing.
Letter from MCC board chairs
The summary of the Veritas report was sent to Clarke and Fast by the board chairs of MCC Canada and MCC U.S., Ron Ratzlaff and Gilberto Perez Jr., respectively. In their covering message—also posted on the MAST website—the two chairs note “gaps” in “HR policies and procedures” and the need for “greater clarity” in this regard.
Though the investigator found senior MCC personnel violated MCC policy, Ratzlaff and Perez Jr. write that “MCC engaged with honesty and integrity in dealing with the situation.” They write that “complex communication concerns appear to be at the root of many of the problems” related to Clarke and Fast.
Clarke and Fast say they are disappointed that there was no substantive admission of wrongdoing in the letter. “MCC’s response was that findings of multiple counts of harassment by senior staff were not worth acknowledging or being sorry about,” says Clarke.
Some validation
Still, Fast says the report summary provides “some sense of validation…. Despite the dry language, it concludes that not only was there harassment from two MCC staff toward us before we were fired, but senior personnel as a whole were engaged in harassment.”
“HR people [and] senior MCC leaders who were supposed to be helping us, were harassing us,” she says.
Next steps
Clarke and Fast have initiated a process under the Quebec labour board, known in French as La Commission des Normes, de L’équité, de la Santé et de la Sécurité du Travail (CNESST). January 14 was originally slated for a CNESST hearing of their case, but the parties agreed to a conciliation session on that date instead, though it will need to be rescheduled due to an illness.
The possibility of a hearing is still on the table, depending on the outcome of conciliation.
In addition to the CNESST process, which Clarke and Fast say they resorted to only when more restorative options proved frustrating, the couple report that César García (general secretary of Mennonite World Conference) and Marisa Smucker (executive director of Mennonite Mission Network) are involved in ongoing efforts to broker a facilitated conversation between MCC and Clarke and Fast.
This involves settling on mediators and a process.
Clarke, Fast and other members of MAST are also still hoping for a comprehensive external investigation into the numerous cases of alleged mistreatment of workers by MCC.
MAST reports that they are aware of more than 50 cases of “bad endings” experienced by MCC staff. Canadian Mennonite has direct knowledge of 14 people who allege serious misconduct by MCC.
Clarke and Fast say it is important to them that MCC’s sponsoring denominations, including Mennonite Church Canada, take ultimate responsibility for ensuring that MCC be held accountable for its actions.
As they look to next steps, the couple are adamant they will not accept an agreement in which MCC denies wrongdoing or one that prevents Clarke and Fast from speaking publicly about their experiences.
“I won’t sign anything that’s not true or that prevents Anicka or me from sharing any part of our story,” says Clarke.
More generally, the couple say they are looking for a change in how MCC speaks publicly about the allegations against them, moving beyond comments about organizational learning and commitments to do better.
They would like to hear MCC commit publicly to a comprehensive, independent, external investigation.
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