Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from the final summary report, written by Prince Lobel Tye LLP and delivered to the PRX Board of Directors.
On August 3rd, Palace Shaw, a Black woman and former employee of PRX sent an email to all staff in which she recounted what she described as the “systematic mistreatment” she experienced that prompted her to resign from her position. The PRX Board of Directors initiated an independent investigation into Ms. Shaw’s assertions. This is a summary of the investigation and the investigative findings.
Background
The Board engaged the services of the law firm Prince Lobel to conduct the investigation, with Joseph Edwards as investigator. Mr. Edwards has extensive experience at MCAD, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination, both as a Commission member and previously as a staff attorney. …
These concerns have our full attention.
The Board of Directors apologizes to the Black, Indigenous, and people of color on our staff. You have bravely reached out to share your outrage about issues of systemic racism in our organization. We hear you. In speaking up, you have helped us to clearly see inequities. These concerns have our full attention.
We recognize that PRX has a lot of work to do to create an inclusive workplace where you can thrive as individuals and each have a sense of belonging.
To that end we are taking a series of concrete actions that directly address systemic racism at PRX, including, but not limited to, an independent investigation led by Joe Edwards (of the law firm Prince Lobel) to explore the specific issues raised by Palace Shaw in her letter of grievance. We anticipate this investigation will be completed by September 18th, and PRX will publicly share the conclusions of the report. …
We have committed to a rigorous process with staff addressing improvements to our culture, specifically through an equity lens. We are also committed to doing this work as transparently as possible, sharing with staff what we are doing and when.
In keeping with that commitment, here is an update on what we are doing:
- Investigation — The Board oversight committee has hired Joe Edwards to look into the concerns raised by a former employee. As stated earlier, the work will be managed by the board to preserve the integrity of the investigation. In terms of scope, the board will ask the investigator to look into the details of the letter from the former employee. The investigators will establish their own list of people they want to interview and documents that they want to access, but we have confirmed that they will reach out to former staff. At the end of the investigation, PRX will share the findings with staff, regardless of the conclusions and recommendations. …
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