Firm that investigated Ghomeshi claims now probing allegations of inappropriate behaviour in PMO

A high-profile employment law firmhas been hired to probeallegations of inappropriate behaviour within the Prime Minister's Office.

Rubin Thomlinson LLPis the independent third party handling the investigation into Claude-ric Gagn, the deputy director of operations within the PMO.

Janice Rubin, who led the independent investigation of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporationfollowing the dismissal of radio host Jian Ghomeshi, is a partner at the firm.

However, a spokeswoman for the PMO refused to sayif Rubin is directly involved in this investigation.

Trudeau's director of communications, KatePurchase, said in a statementthatan investigation was "immediately triggered with the assistance of an independent investigator and the individual in question went on leave, pending the outcome."

The PMO refusedto identify the staffer involved or provide any details of the allegations, but a source previously confirmed to CBC News that they are against Gagnandinvolve allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

TVA, a French-language television network, first revealed the investigation intoGagn and that he has been on leave since early November.

In a statement in French to Radio-Canada, Gagn said he is on leave because of an independent investigation into "allegations which were brought to the attention of my employer."

Gagnsaid he takes the situation seriously and has offered his "full and complete collaboration to the investigator," who he said has given him the opportunity to"explain my version of the facts in light of these allegations which I dispute."

Rubin is well known in Toronto's legal community, and garnered headlines for her investigation into workplace culture at the CBC.

She found CBC mishandled managing Ghomeshi, amid reports of abusive behaviour in the workplace