Will Academy for Performing Arts improve governance in wake of sexual harassment allegations? One councillor isn’t convinced
Two lawmakers and district councillor met government officials after dispute at academy was settled out of court and Audit Commission released critical report on institution’s governance
A politician who attended a meeting with Home Affairs Bureau officials is “not confident” that the government will effectively push the Academy for Performing Arts to improve its governance in the wake of controversy over sexual harassment allegations.
“The Home Affairs Bureau said it will not be involved in the day-to-day affairs of the academy in order to respect the academy’s autonomy, which I agree, but they said that guidelines are being reviewed,” Islands district councillor Amy Yung Wing-sheung said.
Two lawmakers – education representative Ip Kin-yuen and Civic Party member Kenneth Chan Ka-lok – also attended the meeting on Wednesday.
“There’s no transparency on how the academy handles complaints,” Yung said. On the government’s side, “they said the case has been settled and that we should look forward ... I think they want to whitewash the case.”
The meeting was requested following the settlement of a court case in which the publicly funded academy along with the chairman of its school of drama, Ceri Sherlock, paid HK$1 million to former head of acting Professor Peter Jordan. He had sued both the academy and Sherlock in 2015 under the victimisation provisions of the Sexual Discrimination Ordinance.