Yup. It seems to me that Madison's case is one which anyone at LMG who cares, would not have been ok with, but that their policies have big enough cracks that it was still allowed to happen, and she didn't have an effective way to get herself heard.

Wanting to do the right thing, doesn't mean you automatically succeed in doing so.

Sure it's not necessarily a good structure but it is super common in tons of corporations and they also have alternatives. They are giving themselves as an option if you do not have a particular problem with said manager you can talk to them about problems in the office. it is not necessarily ideal for handling everything and can have its issues But it is often a first line of defense for interpersonal employee conflicts. The company I work for and trust me its very large has a similar structure. People can talk to managers or they can call the 1-800 HR line. If they do talk to a manager there is a specific guidelines for how it's escalated and reported within the company but trust me my company is much larger than LTT and they may not have those same policies in place yet.

I am not commenting on the allegations or who perpetrated them or what happened I want to make that clear. I am merely commenting on the fact that this meeting recording is nothing out of the ordinary. And is typically a structure you would see for a company this size and up. There were clearly problems in the system. And I am not going to discount anything anyone went through. And I sure hope these external investigations shed light on what exactly happened and the people responsible are held accountable. That said still don't see much wrong here.

I don't like that comment by op. This structure is pretty standard and I think it's clear that if the manager was the problem that the options to discuss with higher ups or 3rd party HR are also there. Their comment that 3rd party HR is there to protect the company is also only a half-truth as letting these issues run rampant is a huge liability to the company itself (as we're seeing right now). HR would not doing its job properly by pushing issues like these under the rug.

Even worse, saying that HR always takes the side of the employer is a meme that discourages employees in bad situations from pursuing their very real options. This perception could have continued to her situation. If HR doesn't do their job, you can always escalate further.

That’s not the only option though. They could talk to her or the heads of the company. Yes they can talk to their manager too, but they have options.

If you're ever in a situation, even at a corporate situation, where you don't feel you can escalate an issue through the proper channels. You can always write a letter, certify it, send it to the company's headquarters legal counsel and HR. You can do it anonymously, because it's the mail which the company doesn't have any control over, and you know they will get it. And because it's documented and copied to three different departments they will act on it. You always have the method of anonymously contacting a company. If it's an interpersonal issue, where you will be identified no matter what, you at least guarantee that there's a paper trail.

If that's insufficient to notify people then you should be consulting with a labor attorney.