Turn Conflicting Accounts Into Findings That Withstand Review

Available On Demand | 3 Hours | Taught by Michelle Bird, Senior Investigator

When two people give conflicting accounts of the same event, you have to determine what likely happened and explain how you got there. Credibility assessment is where investigations most often become vulnerable. Reasoning goes undocumented. Findings rest on impression rather than evidence. The analysis does not hold when it is challenged.

This three hour recorded course sets out a structured approach to assessing credibility and reliability in workplace investigations. Michelle Bird works through how to evaluate witness evidence, weigh competing accounts, and document your reasoning so that findings are clear, objective, and defensible.

The course is self-paced. Complete it in one sitting or in sections, and return to it as often as your caseload requires.

What You'll Learn

1. CREDIBILITY AND RELIABILITY: WHERE THEY DIFFER

Credibility concerns whether a witness is telling the truth as they understand it. Reliability concerns the accuracy of what they recall. Conflating the two produces flawed findings. This module defines both and establishes where each belongs in your analysis.

2. A FRAMEWORK FOR ASSESSMENT

A structured method for working through witness evidence, covering the factors investigators rely on and the weight properly given to each: internal and external consistency, plausibility, corroboration, motive to fabricate, capacity to observe and recall, and the limits of demeanour as an indicator.

3. WORKING WITH CONFLICTING ACCOUNTS

This module examines various methods for collecting evidence and the factors to consider. It includes an in-depth review of best practices for each evidence collection method and troubleshooting tips for challenges that may arise as well as facilitated group work to enhance learning.

4. COMMON PITFALLS

The errors that most often undermine credibility findings, including over-reliance on demeanour, unexamined assumptions about how people respond to conflict or harm, treating inconsistency as proof of dishonesty, and reasoning backward from a preferred outcome.

5. DOCUMENTING YOUR REASONING

How to record the analysis so the path from evidence to finding is visible on the face of the report. Covers language, structure, and the level of detail required to withstand review by counsel, an adjudicator, or an oversight body.


COURSE DETAILS:

  • Format: Pre-recorded, self-paced
  • Length: 3 hours (half day)
  • Access: One year from the date of purchase
  • Location: Online
  • Launch Date: Coming soon. Join the waitlist to be notified when registration opens
  • Investment: $599 CAD per person
  • Group Discount: 10% off per person for teams of 4 or more

                      For questions or group registration, contact: [email protected]

Why This Course

  • Grounded in casework

    The framework, examples, and pitfalls come from investigations Michelle has conducted and reviewed across her workplace files.

  • Focused on the hardest part of the process

    Most investigation training treats credibility as one topic among many. This course spends its full three hours there.

  • Available when you need it

    Recorded and self-paced, with access for a full year. Work through it before a difficult file, or return to it while you are drafting findings.

Who Should Attend

  • HR professionals who conduct investigations as part of a broader role

  • Employee relations and labour relations practitioners

  • Employee relations and labour relations practitioners

  • HR leaders and decision-makers who review investigation reports and need to evaluate the reasoning in them

Meet Your Instructor

Michelle Bird

Senior Investigator

Michelle brings more than 15 years of experience as a workplace and regulatory investigator. She began her career at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, articling in the Tribunal Counsel Office, then spent eight years as an investigator and legal counsel at the Office of the Ontario Ombudsman. She later practised at a Toronto firm, investigating sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying, and other policy violations. Michelle holds a certificate in Dispute Resolution and Alternative Dispute Resolution and an MA in Counselling Psychology. She is registered with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario as an RP (Qualifying). Her combined background in investigations and counselling informs an impartial, trauma-informed approach that respects the dignity and psychological safety of all parties and witnesses. She is also an experienced workplace mediator and conducts workplace assessments.

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