A DEI trainer who falsely accused a beloved school principal of racism before his suicide has landed a new job at a major corporation in Canada.
Kike Ojo-Thompson was branded abusive by an official government investigation after she was found to have bullied and harassed Richard Bilkszto, 60, before he took his own life over the summer.
The anti-racism professional was recorded mocking Bilkszto, who was openly gay and progressive, as an example of white supremacist resistance after he disagreed with her claim that Canada was more racist than the United States. Bilkszto died after suing the Toronto District School Board for emotional distress.
But Thompson now boasts that she has been hired as a ‘Human Capital Partner’ at Deloitte in Toronto, which provides consulting services to some of Canada’s largest corporations and government agencies.
The company’s clients in the United States 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 have been committed to social justice for all and creating equitable outcomes for workplaces and communities,” Be careful—Thompson wrote on LinkedIn in September.
‘I am proud to announce that the KOJO Institute has joined Deloitte Canada and am pleased to take on the role of Partner in Human Capital (Workforce Transformation).
“I embrace this new opportunity to further revolutionize capital consulting and together we will continue to drive transformative change, delivering value in support of our people, clients and communities.”
Kike Ojo-Thompson, a Toronto-based diversity trainer, cited Bilkszto as 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 stemming from the encounter. His family says they were devastated when Ojo-Thompson turned on him during a session in April 2021 after he questioned her claim that Canada is more racist than the United States.
In audio of the session obtained by The Free Press, Bilkszto can be heard saying that perhaps Canada was not “the bastion of white supremacy” as Ojo-Thompson had said it was.
He noted that public schools serving Canada’s poorest students are generally better funded than their equivalents in the United States.
Ojo-Thompson turned to Bilkszto and said in front of everyone else gathered: ‘As white people, there are a lot of things happening that are not your personal experience. It never will be. You will never know it is like that. You’ll never know it’s like that.
“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 in a later discussion about the challenge posed by Bilkszto, who was described as a deeply progressive man hailed for his focus on “equity” in the job.
And she referred to him again in the next session as an example of “white supremacist resistance” in newly released audio clips that also show her laughing as she gives him an example.
Richard Bilkszto took his 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 he had just filed another lawsuit.
The late principal’s family says their anguish only increased when his school district’s superintendent, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, further embarrassed him in a tweet suggesting he was racist.
The now-deleted tweet praised Ojo-Thompson “for modeling the discomfort administrators may need to experience in disrupting ABR,” or anti-Black racism.
The week after her death, Kike Ojo-Thompson, the diversity trainer, issued a defiant statement in which she did not apologize for her role in Bilkszto’s death, and even implied that she was the victim.
“This incident is being used as a weapon to discredit and repress the work of all those committed to diversity, equity and inclusion,” he said.
“We will not be deterred from our work to build a better society for all.”
Now, Ontario’s school board and education minister are investigating Bilkszto’s death and whether an obsession with woke politics may have contributed to it.
Friends said Bilkszto, who was gay and single, dedicated his life to teaching and spent time at a tough, majority-black school in Buffalo, New York.
He had recently retired hoping to travel more, but was convinced to come out of retirement to work as director of Burnhamthorpe Collegiate Institute in Toronto.
Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, 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; his company, the KOJO Institute, charged $15,000 for each session, according to The Free Press. .
The first session was uneventful, but during the second Ojo-Thompson claimed that Canada was significantly more racist than the United States.
He disagreed, but no one defended him.
After the meeting, Sheryl Robinson Petrazzini, executive superintendent of education, thanked Ojo-Thompson for enlightening them.
“When faced with resistance to addressing anti-Black racism, we cannot remain silent as it reinforces the harm to Black students and families,” Petrazzini wrote.
“Thank you @KOJOInstitute for modeling the discomfort that administrators may need to experience in order to disrupt ABR,” or anti-Black racism.
He has since deleted the tweet.
Friends of Bilkszto said Petrazzini’s tweet hurt him deeply.
Bilkszto’s public embarrassment was compounded in the third session, where Ojo-Thompson called his comments a “teachable moment.”
“One of the ways white supremacy is maintained, protected, reproduced, upheld and defended is through resistance,” he said.
The 60-year-old veteran teacher had worked for 24 years and was still volunteering as a substitute principal. His family says he was so ‘distraught’ by disagreement with anti-racism trainer and what happened afterward that he took his own life.
Then he laughed and added, “I’m very lucky that we’ve had perfect evidence, a wonderful example of resilience that you all have been able to witness, so let’s talk about it, because, I mean, there’s nothing 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 Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board investigated and in August 2021 concluded that Thompson’s behavior was “abusive” and amounted to “workplace harassment.”
Bilkszto received seven weeks of lost wages.
But his friends said he never got over the humiliation of being labeled a white supremacist, and the confrontation ate away at 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 states.
“In addition, Bilkszto has been the subject of shame, scandal, ridicule, contempt and severe emotional distress.”
He committed suicide before the case could be concluded.