A DEI trainer who falsely accused a beloved school principal of racism before his suicide has been given a new job at a major company in Canada.
Kike Ojo-Thompson was labeled abusive by an official government investigation after it emerged she bullied and harassed 60-year-old Richard Bilkszto before he took his own life this summer.
The anti-racism professional was recorded mocking Bilkszto, who was openly gay and progressive, as an example of white supremacist resistance after disagreeing with her statement that Canada was more racist than the US. Bilkszto died after suing the Toronto District School Board for emotional distress.
But Thompson has now bragged about being hired as a “Human Capital Partner” at Deloitte in Toronto, which provides advisory services to some of Canada’s largest corporations and government agencies.
The company’s US clients include Boing, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Berkshire Hathaway and Metlife.
‘When I was young, I knew I wanted to have an impact on changing the world for the better and as many of you know, I was committed to social justice for all and creating fair outcomes for workplaces and communities, Ojo-Thompson wrote on LinkedIn in September.
“I am proud to announce that the KOJO Institute has joined Deloitte Canada, and I am pleased to take on the role of Partner in Human Capital (Workforce Transformation).
“I embrace this new opportunity to further revolutionize equity advice, and together we will continue to drive transformational change, delivering value in support of our people, clients and communities.”
Kike Ojo-Thompson, a Toronto-based diversity trainer, called Bilkszto an example of “resistance to white supremacy” before his suicide months later
Bilkszto, 60, committed suicide in July after suing the Toronto District School Board for emotional distress
DailyMail.com has contacted Deloitte for comment on this story.
Bilkszto was found dead on July 13 after two years of emotional turmoil resulting from the encounter. His family says he was devastated when Ojo-Thompson turned on him during an April 2021 session after he disputed her claim that Canada is more racist than the US.
In audio of the session obtained by The Free Press, Bilkszto can be heard saying that Canada may not have been “the bastion of white supremacy” as Ojo-Thompson had portrayed it.
He pointed out that public schools that serve Canada’s poorest students tend to be better funded than their equivalents in the United States.
Ojo-Thompson turned on Bilkszto and said in front of everyone else, “As white people, there are a lot of things going on that are not your personal experience. That will never be the case. You will never know it is so. You will never know it is so.
“So your job in this job, as white people, is to believe.”
Ojo-Thompson – who was paid $7,500 an hour for eight hours of seminars – laughed off the challenge in a subsequent discussion from Bilkszto, who was described as a very progressive man who was praised for his focus on “equality” in the workplace.
And in the next session, she mentioned him again as an example of “white supremacist resistance” in newly released audio clips in which she also laughed while making an example of him.
Richard Bilkszto took his own life in Toronto on July 13 after two years of turmoil following an April 2021 encounter at the school where he was principal. He filed an official complaint and won, and had just filed another lawsuit
The late principal’s family says his distress only deepened when his school district’s superintendent, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, further shamed him in a tweet suggesting he was a racist.
The tweet, since deleted, praised Ojo-Thompson “for modeling the discomfort administrators may have to experience to disrupt ABR,” or anti-Black racism.
The week after his death, Kike Ojo-Thompson, the diversity trainer, issued a defiant statement that made no apology for her role in Bilkszto’s death – and even suggested she was the victim.
“This incident is being used as a weapon to discredit and suppress the work of all those committed to diversity, equality and inclusion,” she said.
“We will not be deterred from our work to build a better society for all.”
Now the Ontario school board and Minister of Education are investigating Bilkszto’s death and whether the obsession with woke policies contributed to it.
Bilkszto, who was gay and single, is said by friends to have devoted his life to teaching and spent time at a tough, predominantly black school in Buffalo, New York.
He had recently retired in hopes of traveling more, but was convinced to retire and work as director of the Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, the executive superintendent of education, thanked Ojo-Thompson for the session that so upset Bilkszto
In April 2021, the school district hired Kike Ojo-Thompson, a diversity trainer in Toronto, to conduct four two-hour sessions for school leaders — with her firm, the KOJO Institute, charging $15,000 for each session, according to The Free Press. .
The first session was uneventful, but during the second session Ojo-Thompson claimed that Canada was significantly more racist than the United States.
He disagreed, but no one stood up for him.
After the meeting, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, the executive superintendent of education, thanked Ojo-Thompson for his explanation.
“When faced with resistance to addressing anti-Black racism, we cannot remain silent because it increases harm to Black students and families,” Petrazzini wrote.
“Thank you @KOJOInstitute for modeling the discomfort administrators may need to experience to disrupt ABR,” or anti-Black racism.
She has now deleted the tweet.
Bilkszto’s friends said Petrazzini’s tweet hurt him deeply.
Bilkszto’s public embarrassment was compounded during the third session, where Ojo-Thompson said his comments were a “teachable moment.”
“One of the ways that white supremacy is upheld, protected, reproduced, perpetuated and defended is through resistance,” she said.
The 60-year-old veteran teacher had worked for 24 years and still volunteered as a substitute principal. His family says he was so ‘saddened’ by the disagreement with the anti-racism trainer and what happened next that he committed suicide
She then laughed and added, “I’m so lucky that we got perfect evidence, a beautiful example of defiance that you all need to witness, so we’re going to talk about it because, I mean, it doesn’t matter.” ‘It doesn’t get any better than this.’
The day after the third session, Bilkszto requested sick leave and missed the fourth and final session.
He then filed a complaint with school officials saying he had been harassed.
The Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario investigated and concluded in August 2021 that Thompson’s behavior was “offensive” and amounted to “workplace harassment.”
Bilkszto received seven weeks of lost wages.
But friends said he never got over the humiliation of being labeled a white supremacist, and the confrontation consumed him.
In April of this year, Bilkszto sued the Toronto District School Board, citing Thompson’s “defamatory statements” and administrators’ unwillingness to defend him despite previously praising him.
“Bilkszto has suffered and will continue to suffer harm to his character and reputation, both personally and professionally,” the lawsuit said.
‘In addition, Bilkszto has been subject to shame, scandal, ridicule, contempt and serious emotional problems.’
He committed suicide before the case could be concluded.