# 2019-058 Harassment

Case summary

F&R Date: 2020-04-14

The grievor argued that his Chain of Command (CoC) did not handle his harassment complaint in accordance with the applicable policy. As redress, the grievor sought to be returned to a non-toxic work environment.

The Initial Authority acknowledged that some mistakes were made, but ultimately concluded that the investigation of the harassment was conducted in a professional and unbiased manner.

The Committee found that the CoC made a number of mistakes in handling the harassment complaint. Chief among them, the situational assessment (SA) of the allegations was not completed in accordance with the Canadian Armed Forces harassment policy (the Guidelines) and had to be set aside.

The Committee then noted that, normally, it would conduct a de novo SA review of the grievor's harassment allegations based on the criteria set out in the Guidelines. However, in this case, the Committee found that it would not be practical to proceed with a de novo SA review because the events giving rise to the complaint dated back over four years, and the grievor no longer shared a workplace with the respondent in this case.

The Committee recommended that the Final Authority (FA) grant redress by acknowledging that the grievor was aggrieved by the way his CoC mismanaged his harassment complaint.

FA decision summary

The Chief of Defence Staff, acting as FA, stated that while the Committee's analysis had been thorough, it did not have access to crucial information, namely a Directorate of Special Examinations and Inquiries (DSEI) report. After the grievor complained in 2016, DSEI investigated and found that the grievor's CoC had attempted to dismiss a harassment complaint he submitted and had conducted reprisals and tried to prevent him from submitting further harassment complaints and grievances. As a result, the FA found that the grievor had been aggrieved. He apologized and cancelled the contested initial counselling and recorded warning as well as a personal evaluation report. He noted that DSEI had not commented on the validity of the original harassment complaint but he described the CoC's conduct as harassing. However, the FA found that the grievor's release had been administered in accordance with policy.