# 2022-156 Harassment

Case summary

F&R Date: 2023-06-21

The grievor alleged that comments by his former Commanding Officer regarding a potential grievance at his new unit were defamatory, inappropriate, and harmful to his reputation. As redress, the grievor sought acknowledgement that the comments were defamatory, and asked to be compensated for the harm he suffered.

The Initial Authority rejected the grievance because it was not submitted within the timelines stipulated at paragraph 7.06(1) of the Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces.

As a preliminary issue, the Committee first found that the grievance was, at its core, a harassment complaint. The Committee then noted that the National Defence Act (NDA) does not specifically address the treatment of harassment complaints, but that the Defence Administrative Order and Directive (DAOD) 2017-1, Military Grievance Process, which is an order for the management of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) grievances, derives from the authority of the NDA. The Committee goes on to note that paragraph 3 of DAOD 2017-1 states that in the case of an allegation of harassment, the complaint should be made under DAOD 5012-0, Harassment Prevention and Resolution (HPRI), and that this mechanism should be considered instead of or prior to resorting to the CAF grievance system. As such, the Committee found that this grievance submission was premature. 

The Committee recommended that this grievance be considered under the HPRI policy framework to ensure that the grievor's claims were appropriately investigated, and in a manner that protected the rights of both the complainant and respondent.