Former Olympic executive opens up about harassment and courage in the workplace

A former Olympic executive who came forward with allegations of sexual harassment and abuse by her boss, said her steadfast commitment to her core values made her a target, but also helped her get through the ordeal.

Leanne Nicolle, the former executive director of the Canadian Olympic Foundation and Executive in Residence at the Ted Rogers School of Management, spoke about sexual harassment and moral courage in the modern workplace to a room of students, faculty and staff at an event organized by the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre.

Nicolle made headlines in 2017 when she went public with her complaints against Marcel Aubut, the former president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, and her boss at the time.

In her talk, Nicolle says all she wanted was for Aubut to go away.

“I had no interest in personal gain. I didn’t want any financial gain, I didn’t want any fame, all I wanted was for him to disappear,” said Nicolle.

She went on to say that Aubut’s treatment of her left her feeling like a shell of her former self.

“I was incredibly broken,” said Nicolle, “I was in fetal position on the couch, addicted to sleeping pills. I was a bad mother, a bad wife and a bad employee.”

Rahul Bhardwaj, president and CEO of the Institute of Corporate Directors, participated in a panel after Nicolle’s speech and detailed the changing landscape of the workplace as a result of the #MeToo movement.

“Before, for-profit companies would choose performance over culture but that’s changing. Oversight of culture is what’s going to have a huge impact on a company now,” said Bhardwaj.

Nicolle said that although the values of the Canadian Olympic Committee weren’t being honoured, what helped her stay strong was her unyielding attachment to her own core values.

“My core values are absolutely non-negotiable,” said Nicolle, “I chose not to waver on my values and that made Marcel Aubut incredibly uncomfortable.”

She details the countless times Aubut tried to engage her in unethical business practices during her time at the foundation.

“Over and over [Aubut] would try to break my integrity and I wouldn’t allow it. I wouldn’t sign what he wanted me to sign and because he couldn’t break my integrity, he started to target my competency.”

Nicolle says moral courage means doing the right thing in the face of your fears.

In September of 2015, Nicolle filed her complaint against Aubut. An investigation into the case was supposed to take 45 days, it ended up taking three months. Aubut stepped down shortly after the complaint was filed.

Nicolle is now the president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Toronto and has dedicated her career to driving societal change to improve women’s well-being in athletics, education and the workplace.