Polly Rodway has been part of BDBF since its first year and leads the firm’s Investigations and Mediation practice.

Polly draws on her extensive experience as an employment lawyer advising senior individuals and organisations to conduct thorough, independent and robust workplace and corporate investigations. She understands the importance of balancing a rigorous and defensible process with a human, emotionally intelligent and accessible approach for all those involved.

Polly’s investigation experience spans a wide range of complex and sensitive matters for diverse organisations, including international and listed companies, professional services firms, privately owned businesses and public sector bodies. She is frequently instructed to investigate complex allegations which involve senior executives and leadership teams. This includes investigating whistleblowing concerns, allegations of discrimination, harassment, bullying and other serious misconduct issues. She is trained to conduct trauma informed investigations and so is equipped to handle the most sensitive of allegations and individuals.

In her corporate investigation work, Polly has particular expertise in considering risk management and escalation in publicly listed companies.

Polly’s investigation work is often in regulated sectors and high profile organisations and workplaces in financial services, law and media and entertainment. Polly is trusted to communicate complex and often challenging findings with clarity and confidence, and regularly presents investigation outcomes and recommendations to Boards, Board Committees, executive teams and other senior stakeholders.

Polly’s recent work includes investigations into allegations:

• raised by a senior executive of a private equity-backed financial services company about bullying, sex discrimination and equal pay issues against other members of a small Senior Leadership Team.
• of bullying against a long standing and very senior executive of a large nationwide organisation, after alleged mistreatment of a more junior employee.
• of anonymous whistleblowing disclosures regarding the culture of a large nationwide organisation and conducting a quasi-culture review as a result.
• about escalation of risk at a large PLC, which involved interviewing members of the Executive Leadership Team and reporting the outcome to the Remuneration Committee with the Report informing bonus decisions.
• of whistleblowing disclosures in an international FCA regulated financial services organisation, for the purpose of the organisation considering its regulatory obligations.