# 2021-129 Harassment, Harassment

Case summary

F&R Date: 2022-08-03

The grievor contested the administration of his harassment complaint against the respondent. He argued that the Responsible Officer (RO) failed to provide him with procedural fairness in accordance with the Department of National Defence Harassment Prevention and Resolution Instructions. As redress, he was asking that his harassment complaint be processed to completion.

The Initial Authority did not render a decision within the regulatory time limits. The grievor requested that his grievance be forwarded to the Final Authority (FA).

The Committee noted that it took the RO two and a half years to assign an investigator, six months for the investigator to complete the investigation and one month for the RO to render a decision. The Committee found such prolonged timelines unacceptable and clearly contrary to the applicable policies. As a result, the Committee found that the grievor's chain of command did not handle the harassment complaint as expeditiously as possible and did not treat it as a priority. Accordingly, the Committee found that the grievor's harassment complaint was not administered in accordance with the applicable policies.

However, the Committee noted that the harassment complaint has been completed since the submission of the grievance. Therefore, he did not recommend any redress. Instead, the Committee mentioned that the FA may wish to acknowledge the mismanagement of the harassment complaint and offer the grievor an apology in light of the significant delays in the investigation of his harassment complaint.

FA decision summary

The Vice-Admiral Royal Canadian Navy, acting as FA, agreed with the Committee's findings and recommendation not to afford redress since the harassment complaint process had been completed. The FA also acknowledge the mismanagement of the harassment complaint and offered its apology.