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On May 2, Aulakh wrote of her disillusionment with the organization she had once loved. “I used to love that newsroom, it was my refuge. Now I’m scared of coming in – I feel emotionally unsafe.”

After Aulakh died on the weekend of May 27, the Star launched an internal investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death. As a result, the Star announced that two senior managers were no longer working in the newsroom, though investigators found that Aulakh’s immediate supervisor had provided her with “outstanding” support.

But the Financial Post has learned that in the course of the Star’s investigations, Torstar Corp. chairman John Honderich was approached by a source close to Aulakh, who offered e-mails that included important information about her treatment in the workplace.

The source, a former Star staffer, said that Honderich told them the Star was only investigating how relationships in the newsroom affected the work of the employees involved, and so the e-mails were never forwarded. The source said Honderich didn’t tell them the Star was also investigating how Aulakh was supported in the workplace, which they only learned about weeks later in media reports.

These emails – along with many others from past and present employees at the Star – were shared with the Post by people frustrated by the Star’s approach to the investigation.

In her own words, Aulakh alleged that a senior manager was unwilling to report allegations of inappropriate activity in order to protect a colleague. In addition, Aulakh wrote that she was told not to report her concerns about the workplace environment to the Star’s union.