GIA Lab Announces Initiatives, Names Compliance Officer

The GIA Laboratory announced the appointment of a lab compliance officer and a series of initiatives aiming to “tighten” its standards. Among the initiatives are revisions to the code of conduct and ethics policy and retaining the services of a company to which potential misconduct can be reported anonymously.

In a letter to clients sent on Tuesday, GIA Laboratory and Research Senior Vice President Thomas M. Moses announced a number of initiatives, as well as the appointment of a new Laboratory Compliance Officer.

Moses said the steps are designed “to make our organization even stronger and better.”

GIA’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Linda Scholl, has been appointed Vice President of Human Resources and Compliance. Scholl will oversee the enforcement of GIA’s compliance policies for the laboratory and the enforcement of GIA’s corporate-wide compliance program.

Eva Carlson, who has been Manager of Legal Administration, is now Manager of Laboratory Compliance under Scholl’s supervision. Both will work closely with GIA’s legal team.

Other steps announced by Moses include:

• Revising the existing GIA Code of Conduct and Professional Ethics Policy to include even more stringent requirements that reflect current industry standards for professional conduct. Employees are now required to report Code of Conduct violations that they witness or of which they become aware; failure to do so will result in dismissal.
• Conducting a mandatory ethics training seminar for all employees in November to highlight the importance of the provisions in the Code of Conduct and to provide additional information on workplace ethics. The seminar will be an annual training event. This year’s seminar will be led by Thomas O’Neil, a partner at the law firm of DLA Piper Rudnick, who conducted the recent investigation of GIA.
• Reemphasizing the current policy in the Code of Conduct against employees soliciting or receiving compensation in any form from Lab clients, including cash and/or non-cash gifts, or entertainment. There are no exceptions to this rule, and any violations will result in immediate dismissal. Any Laboratory clients who fail to respect this rule will be stricken from GIA’s client list.
• Retaining the company EthicsPoint to provide clients, as well as students, employees, and vendors, with a means to openly and safely communicate cases of potential misconduct anonymously and confidentially with GIA’s management and Board via a toll-free telephone hotline or the Internet. EthicsPoint is a leading provider of services to support compliance, workplace ethics, and corporate governance. The toll-free phone number in the U.S. and Canada is 866-295-2625. Outside the U.S. and Canada, please contact a local operator to place a collect call to the following U.S. phone number: 503-726-2269 (only an operator can place the collect call). Multi-lingual support is available and lines are open 24-hours a day, seven days a week. The multilingual website is www.ethicspoint.com.

In a release Moses said, “These initiatives are being implemented to tighten GIA standards even further and to ensure that the Institute will continue to serve the industry and the public with pride and excellence.”

In addition, GIA President William E. Boyajian announced that Donna M. Baker, who has been serving as Vice President and General Counsel, has been promoted to Senior Vice President and General Counsel. She will continue to oversee GIA’s corporate operations and will ultimately be responsible, with Scholl for reporting to the Institute’s Board of Governors on corporate compliance issues.