The British School in Rome (BSR) has launched an investigation following complaints from 24 staff, former staff and alumni about the charity’s activities in April 2020 to its administrators. It was claimed that the staff had “physical and mental health problems” due to poor working conditions. A “complaints committee” set up by the charity’s management to investigate the allegations has been suspended before reporting its findings. The charity said last week it was conducting a “comprehensive, independent and confidential” investigation. BSR was founded in 1901 and is housed in a neoclassical building in Rome, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Graduates include Turner Prize winners Elizabeth Price and Mark Wallinger. It receives more than half of its funding from the British Academy, which is supported by a grant from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. A two-page complaint written in April 2020 was sent to the board of the charity, of which its directors are members. The board is chaired by Mark Getty, a member of the Getty family’s oil dynasty and co-founder of the Getty Images multimedia company. Multimillionaire Mark Getty is chairman of the charity’s board. Photo: Gareth Cattermole / Getty Images The Observer complaint said there were serious concerns at school about mismanagement, unfair work practices and alleged humiliating language towards some working women. The letter complained about a “toxic” and “divisive” working atmosphere. The document stated: “Since July 2019, a number of managers have been approached and these issues have been brought to their attention, but nothing positive has emerged. “People should be given the opportunity to speak in a safe and secure environment.” In one case of alleged unfair working conditions, a senior female art researcher who lived in the school and spoke to the Observer said she had to act as a “doorman” some nights and was given a high-visibility torch and vest to patrol the facility. He said: “I actually found a naked man in the lecture theater one Saturday night and I had to deal with it. “I think he was taking drugs.” When she complained that overtime was not included in her contract, she claims that she was told that she would not be granted a leave of absence unless she agreed to work overtime. The researcher was fired after refusing to work overtime, but says that an unfair dismissal case followed in the courts of Rome and she received compensation in a compromise. The charity’s supervisory board commissioned an independent review in June 2020. The committee recommended setting up a grievance committee and also identified a “very urgent” need for staff to have access to advice and human resources support. A grievance committee consisting exclusively of lawyers appointed by the BSR was convened in July 2020. In September of that year, 37 staff members, former staff and alumni wrote to the British Academy, complaining that they had not been informed by the the charity had “failed in its duty of care.” The British Academy and the BSR examined the governance of the charity. Reforms have been proposed, including a new code of conduct, the formation of a senior management team and a new approach to diversity and inclusion. The British Academy told the complainants in June 2021 that the council “decided to suspend the work of the grievance committee despite the absence of any resolution of the issues before it”. The charity, which has about 30 employees, said last week that all of the review’s recommendations had been implemented. He said he could not fully respond to specific allegations due to confidentiality arrangements, but no staff members are subject to disciplinary action. He said he had consulted staff last summer about the grievance committee and the council had concluded that it was appropriate to consider the proceedings closed. He said investigators were not asked to act as caretakers, but that housing staff had common emergency tasks. As of spring 2020, there was a professional security service, the charity said. Director of Human Resources was appointed in 2021. Mark Getty, Chairman of the BSR Board, said: “I am confident that with a strengthened framework for BSR governance and new dynamic leadership, the BSR is now well placed to develop the UK’s creative and academic presence in Italy. ». The British Academy said it was not in a position to investigate specific complaints from officials, but said it was pleased that the issues identified in its governance review were “in the hands”. Professor Steven Milner, director of the charity at the time of the allegations, resigned at the end of his post in January 2021. Milner, Professor of Italian Serena at the University of Manchester, said last week that the BSR would respond.
