East Lancs Railway

I've been advised (privately) that there is no cover up or conspiracy so thanks for your clarification.
Regretfully my query as originally posted seems to have been removed................

 

The islands are dependencies of the British crown though (and not strictly part of the United Kingdom), having been so attached since the Norman Conquest of 1066, when they formed part of the duchy of Normandy. The islands were the only British territory to endure German occupation during World War II.

Dave B

 

Put much better than I could, thank you.
I mean my brother’s friends from Jersey who are Nottingham Forest supporters wouldn’t exactly say they’re Brittan’s would they?
As ever we are digressing.

 

However the original posts from Friday are still there, which remains a cause of confusion (and my reason for reporting what I thought were repeated posts).

 

Statement from Joanne Crompton re East Lancashire Railway.

17 May 2023

On 11th May 2023, the Chair of the East Lancashire Railway (“ELR”), Mr. Mike Kelly, chose to make a public statement by way of an open letter to all staff and volunteers of the ELR in respect of me that included details of my ELR grievance complaint and subsequent appeal. This is despite the ELR’s own Grievance Policy making it clear that ‘Grievances will be handled with as high a degree of confidentiality as is practicable’.

Prior to this, at no point had Mr. Kelly or anyone connected with the management of the ELR discussed with me whether it was appropriate to publish such an open letter in contravention with their Grievance Policy nor what the likely impact of publishing this would have on me personally. As a result, I feel it necessary to make a statement setting out what has actually happened and what I believe must happen next.

Over the past few months, I have been involved in a grievance process with the ELR, initiated by me, regarding two separate issues – first, my mistreatment with respect to various matters relating to my driver training and second, the sexual harassment I had been subjected to over a sustained period of time. With regards to driver training, the ELR’s own review upheld my grievance and with regards to sexual harassment, my grievance was upheld on appeal. The fact that the original investigation by the ELR had concluded that the grievance with regards to sexual harassment was inconclusive had significantly exacerbated the emotional toil this was all taking on me, so for the appeal to subsequently find in my favour was an enormous relief.

On 4th April 2023, immediately following a meeting called by the ELR to explain the outcome of my original grievances (and prior to my subsequent appeal), the ELR General Manager told me that my volunteer status was being revoked due to my activity on social media. It was claimed this had brought the ELR into disrepute. No notice was given of this decision and no opportunity was afforded me to consider the allegations in advance of the decision to revoke my volunteer status.

It is true that I have been an active and vocal contributor to various social media platforms over the years. At all times I have sought to be enthusiastic and positive, not just with respect to the ELR specifically, but also with the heritage railway movement more generally. I am passionate about volunteering, especially with regards to encouraging more women to get involved in what is a wonderfully uplifting and rewarding activity. I reject categorically that at any time have I deliberately sought to bring the ELR into disrepute and believe that the revoking of my volunteer status was entirely unjust, ill-considered, and wholly disproportionate.

It is the ELR’s own actions that have risked damaging my reputation. Elements of the process of grievance, the initial findings and subsequent appeal have been defective, with the ELR’s own investigating officer using social media themselves to express personal opinions and disclose matters concerning the investigation that I believe should have remained confidential whilst a grievance and subsequent appeal process was still underway.
The actual events underpinning my experience of sexual harassment are very upsetting, to the extent that I find it difficult to talk about them even now. It is also well known that I am receiving treatment for a rare and particularly nasty form of cancer but despite that I have never sought to use that fact to leverage my position at any time with the ELR. Even so, the stress that recent events have brought about on my health, as well as on my wonderfully loving and supportive family has, at times, been almost intolerable.

It was therefore especially upsetting when reading Mr. Kelly’s statement to note that four full paragraphs are dedicated to first attempting to explain the reasons behind my volunteer status being revoked before even mentioning the issue of sexual harassment. Readers will form their own view as to the sense of priorities that the ELR place on protecting their own reputation compared to supporting members of their own staff and volunteer groups.
In particular, the open letter says that “All of our volunteers have a right to enjoy a safe, welcoming and rewarding experience” followed immediately with “This very public situation has led to a complete breakdown in the working relationship between Joanne, some of her fellow volunteers and the management of the railway”. This juxtaposition misleads the reader into believing that my social media posts, possibly the grievances themselves, and certainly my general behaviour, have led to volunteers feeling unsafe and unwelcome. Such a connection is deeply misleading and entirely unsupported by any reasonable and fair consideration of the facts.

Mr. Kelly’s open letter ends by exhorting all staff and volunteers to ‘Keep the Faith’. The inference of this is that it is the ELR who has been the victim here, bravely managing to see off an attempt by a former volunteer to cause it reputational harm.
I see recent events in a rather different light. Over the last 18 months, I have been subjected to frequent bullying, casual (and not so casual) misogyny, gaslighting and sexual harassment that left me sufficiently scared at times to feel unable to travel to and from the railway unaccompanied. I am grateful to the friends I have who are still connected with the ELR and who have told me privately how upset they were with those three, short words: ‘Keep the faith’.

The ELR has so many dedicated staff and volunteers who do a truly wonderful job. They do what they do with passion and enthusiasm not just for their own railway but for the heritage railway movement at large. Yet they are still entitled to be respected and protected by those in authority. They should expect their concerns to be taken seriously when they are raised, as well as acted upon, urgently, when the possibility of wrongdoing comes to light.

My concern now, as it has been for some time, is to bring about real and positive change for the benefit of all. I am therefore calling upon the Board of the ELR to announce the following 4 - point plan as soon as possible:

1. To commission an urgent and completely independent review into the culture & working practices at the ELR (as well as their HR Policies and Procedures) including in particular how arrangements for all potentially vulnerable groups, not just women, are considered and put in place;
2. To then publish the terms of reference of the review;
3. To confirm the review will be carried out by someone with experience of carrying out similar reviews elsewhere; and
4. To confirm that the outcome of the review will be published when complete and that any recommendations made will be implemented in full and without amendment.

Only then can everyone be certain that the Board of the ELR take their duties and responsibilities to their staff and volunteers seriously, and that what happened to me does not happen again.

 

I don't know this lady, but I greatly admire her spirit. I was unaware of her medical situation, which is more concerning for her stress levels.
It reflects on the misogynistic behaviour, seemingly accepted by the ELR, of the small minded male protagonists..someone's needs to get a life..

 

Yes I would tend to agree, anyone who worked in a commercial environment, could produce a letter like that. For all I know Joanne may well have undertaken some form of legal training in respect to her day job, as I had to in regard to Contract Law for mine. Anything like that would (in my case after about 10 drafts when my anger had subsided a little) allowed something like that to be produced.

 

Further information can be gleaned from a report in this week's Railway Herald (edition 818) which does the ELR no credit at all. The ELR is clearly trying to defend the indefensible !

 

For those of us who don't subscribe, any chance of the headlines?

 

Quite a detailed article; for me, the stand out point related to a pretty damning analysis of the timeline of the social media postings which Mr Kelly claims were the reason for sacking Joanne.

She only went public with any ELR critisism after being told she had been sacked for breaching their social media policy and had been told there was no appeal possible. Therefore as no longer a volunteer, not subject to the social media rules. The ELR later relented, an appeal found in her favour but clearly still saw no irony in upholding the ban even though it was only Joanne's postings which had forced them to follow their procedures and investigate properly.

Needless to say, Mr Kelly would not comment further

Hope I'm not breaching any Railway Herald copyright by giving my interpretation of some of their well written and very supportive article.

 

Sounds like some actual journalism has been done there, a rare occurrence for railway disputes in the mags. Well done Railway Herald.

 

https://www.national-preservation.com/threads/the-wsr-a-personal-view.1422129/page-83#post-2813529

 

Source https://www.railwayherald.com/uknews/ELR_comes_under_fire_in_volunteer_harassment_row

RAILWAY HERALD ARTICLE ON THE ELR SEXISM CASE


The East Lancashire Railway (ELR) has come under fire after allegedly dismissing one of its most experienced female members of footplate crew, after she complained about unfair treatment and sexual harassment.

Joanne Crompton is well known to enthusiasts as a popular advocate for women on the footplate, having given a series of talks about her life on the footplate at a number of heritage railways and on the main line. She has already been recognised as one of the most influential women in the heritage rail sector, and was recently shortlisted for the Women in Rail Award, the winners for which will be announced on 18th May.

Mrs Crompton has been involved with steam for well over a decade, volunteering at the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston before moving on to the ELR. Her enthusiasm and willingness to learn and ‘muck in’, together with a natural talent for steam locomotive management, allowed her to move rapidly from cleaner to fireman, and until very recently she was undertaking training to become a driver.

Unfortunately, and disappointingly, being a woman in a male-dominated arena has not proved to be hassle free for Mrs Crompton, who despite receiving a lot of support from most of her footplate colleagues, has admitted that in the past, she has had to overcome scepticism from a small number of staff, something she accomplished with relative ease in most cases. However, more recently, things took a more worrying turn when, she alleges, she became the target of sexual harassment. She raised two complaints to the Railway, one regarding alleged discriminatory issues that she experienced during driver training, and the second after she received a number of lewd comments and unsolicited WhatsApp messages that were distinctly sexual in nature, from a member of the ELR’s steam department. After having made the complaints, the Railway subsequently decided not to select Mrs Crompton to represent it at its International Women’s Day event with the NRM's 'A3' No. 60103 Flying Scotsman, despite her influence in this area.

On 4th April, Mrs Crompton attended a meeting with the Railway’s General Manager, Tracey Parkinson. In a statement issued subsequently on Facebook, Mrs Crompton commented: “After my complaint concerning unfair treatment and unacceptable behaviour was successfully upheld, I was immediately 'sacked' as a volunteer from the East Lancashire Railway by the General Manager 'to protect the reputation of the Railway' as she felt that I was bringing the Railway into disrepute through social media and that by complaining through the proper channels and highlighting the toxic culture and failures that are affecting areas of the organisation, I was a 'drain on resources'. Rather than tackle the issues of unfair and discriminatory treatment and sexual harassment, she chose to get rid of 'the problem'.”

Mrs Crompton continued: “Naturally, I was absolutely devastated; I'd worked so hard to positively support the Railway and the people in it, to help them thrive and survive. I so wanted them to change and be an industry leader. Through my dedication to the Railway and determination to get through the ranks I'd paved the way for other women to follow. I had hoped to be the Railway’s first ever female steam driver before my health deteriorated. Sadly that's not to be now; that chance has been cruelly taken away. As a result of this action taken I also cannot fully fulfil my roles as a Trustee of the Society or for the Bury Standard 4 Group and sadly will have to let these roles go too.”

Like many heritage railways, various organisations are involved in its operation, in the case of the ELR, the East Lancashire Light Railway Company (ELLRC) is the operating company which manages the line on a day-to-day basis, while the East Lancashire Railway Preservation Society is the volunteer supporting arm. The latter organisation has sought to distance itself from the ongoing situation issuing a statement through Social Media in which it says the decision relating to its Director and member, Joanne Crompton, "has been made by the East Lancashire Light Railway Company, not the Preservation Society". The statement also says that it is the role of the society to "look after the interests of its volunteers", but when asked what action it had taken in this respect over Mrs Crompton, the Society did not respond to our query.

The Chairman of the Railway Company, Mike Kelly, said in a short statement: “We concluded two independent investigations as a result of grievances raised by Joanne Crompton and have just received an appeal, which means we are limited in what we can share. The first was about our processes used for all volunteers going through steam driver training. The investigation highlighted a deficiency in the steam driver training assessment and is subject to a review. We are now in the process of doing this, however, this was not a case of discrimination against Joanne, but a general problem that needed fixing.”

Mr Kelly concluded: “Our exhaustive independent investigation into Joanne’s second grievance was inconclusive. We understand that this has been difficult for Joanne – this has also taken an emotional toll on our volunteer community. We’ve asked Joanne to no longer actively volunteer at the railway. We share her sadness that it has come to this but wish her all the best for the future.”

Railway Herald asked the East Lancashire Railway to advise why, in view of the fact that its investigation into Mrs Crompton’s complaint of sexual harassment proved “inconclusive”, she was subsequently asked to cease to be an active volunteer? The Railway refused to answer this question.

Following the publication of her statement through Twitter, which has been viewed over one million times and shared widely on forums, blogs and social media, and resulted in the story trending in the top 10 topics on Twitter for over two days, rail industry professionals suddenly found themselves reportedly blocked from ELR Chairman Mike Kelly’s Twitter feed. When questioned about this by Railway Herald, Mr Kelly stated that he had “not directly blocked any Twitter accounts” and that he could “only assume it’s either a glitch or [his] account has been hacked”. However, this conflicts with a message that was e-mailed to the Railway’s staff and volunteers that was subsequently shared on Facebook, which blamed the issue on a “simple user error on [his] part and not connected with Joanne Crompton’s statement”.

Mrs Crompton was approached for comment by Railway Herald, and said: “While I can’t comment further than my statement due to my appeal, I wish to thank the footplate crews, staff and volunteers at the ELR, the vast majority of whom have been very supportive during my 10-year career on the Railway.”

Whatever the outcome of Mrs Crompton’s appeal, the 'sacking' of a leading and inspirational female member of volunteer footplate staff after she has spoken out about discrimination and sexual harassment with one complaint upheld and one investigation found “inconclusive” is a cause for concern, and at the same time could be a 'wake up call' for other heritage organisations to review their own procedures and processes for dealing with such queries and complaints should they arise.

 

And still no explanation from Kelly as to how he 'inadvertently' blocked hundreds of people (including TOC MDs) on Twitter, despite none of these people following him - other than 'a big boy did it and ran away'...

 

You’re not far wrong with the childishness suggestion - the ELR has today posted this on Facebook, which to me reads as a thinly veiled mocking of Joanne. Otherwise, I can’t see a need to mention social media at all - referencing a camera would have been more inclusive!

 

What on earth does "up your social media game" mean?
Who are these people, do they come from a different planet?

 

It's rather too heavily veiled for me to understand, I'm afraid! Are you sure you're not turning a bit paranoid?

 

I’m certain, thank you! If the ELR had made this type of post prior to Joanne’s dismissal for ‘social media policy breaches’, then maybe it wouldn’t appear such an obvious dig. The ELR’s own Chairman has breached the Railway’s own guidelines, as has the ‘independent’ investigator that failed on his due diligence in the original investigation (the latter by taking to social media to discuss the case while it was still being investigated during the appeal). All of a sudden, a reference to the ELR and the Irwell Valley being a way to ‘up your social media game’ appears for the first time… you’re right, it must be a coincidence. Silly me.