Sex inquiry at law firm due today

A review of alleged sexual harassment at law firm Russell McVeagh will be released to the public this morning.

Dame Margaret Bazley was appointed to lead the external review, looking at incidents which occurred through 2015/16.

Alleged incidents include male employees taking part in sexual acts with female intern students who were part of the summer law clerk programme. There were accusations of a culture of inappropriate sexual behaviour at the firm.

Media have been invited to Russell McVeagh’s Wellington headquarters, where the results will be released at 10am.

Russell McVeagh staff will only be formally briefed on the results after the press conference.

The law firm pledged at the outset to give Bazley full access to any material she needed, as well as any staff who wished to participate.

The review will cover sexual harassment claims over the summer of 2015/16, the firm’s responses to those claims, as well as any other claims of improper conduct.

Bazley was asked to consider the overall culture of the firm, as well as the firm’s standards, systems, and policies for the management of staff.

When the review was announced in March this year, Russell McVeagh chairman Malcolm Crotty said the women who had been subjected to any form of sexual harassment would want to be assured that the review would be thorough.

Russell McVeagh senior partner Pip Greenwood said they were grateful to Dame Margaret for conducting the review.