Grievance Case Summary - G-628

The Grievor had previously filed a grievance against the Respondent's decision not to approve the Grievor's claim for overtime for attending a meeting of the RCMP's Legal Fund in his role as Staff Relations Sub-Representative; the meeting had been held on a Sunday. According to the Respondent, the Fund was a separate entity from the RCMP; consequently, the Grievor could not be paid. In November 2005, upon receipt of the grievance, the Respondent removed the Grievor from his acting position as Operations Officer in the Commercial Crime Section. The acting pay for this position was also interrupted, and the Respondent launched an investigation under Part IV of the RCMP Act regarding the Grievor's application for overtime. The Grievor filed the present grievance against the Respondent alleging that these acts were reprisals against the Grievor, prohibited under s. 31(5) of the Act. In his Level I submissions, the Grievor also suggested that he considered the Respondent's actions against him to be harassment.

The Level I Adjudicator denied the grievance, concluding that the Respondent had reasonable grounds for requesting a Code of Conduct investigation and that the Grievor had not established that this investigation was a reprisal. The Adjudicator also concluded that assigning the Grievor to different duties and removing him from his acting position was not inappropriate.

The ERC concluded that it had jurisdiction to review the grievance, that the Grievor had standing and that the grievance was filed within the applicable limitation periods. However, it also found that the additional evidence submitted by the Grievor to the ERC was neither relevant nor admissible.

Regarding the merits of the grievance, the ERC found that the Grievor had established, on a balance of probabilities, that the Respondent had acted in reprisal against him in late November 2005, in violation of s. 31(5) of the Act, but that this behaviour was not harassment within the meaning of the applicable policies.

The ERC recommended that the Commissioner allow the grievance.

The Commissioner's decision, as summarized by his office, is as follows:

[TRANSLATION]

The Grievor filed a grievance against the Respondent's decision to relieve him of his acting position as Operations Officer, to stop payment of his acting pay and to launch a disciplinary investigation. The Grievor claimed that the impugned decision constitutes reprisal and harassment following the filing of the G-487 grievance in which the Grievor challenged the Respondent's refusal to approve his claim for compensatory leave for attending a meeting of the RCMP's Legal Fund. The Respondent claimed that his decision does not concern the filing of G-487 and is legitimate given the circumstances surrounding the Grievor's claim. The Level I Adjudicator did not accept the Grievor's allegations on the basis that the Respondent's decision was compatible with the applicable policies.

The Commissioner accepted the ERC's recommendations. The Grievor established that reprisal had been taken against him contrary to subsection 31(5) of the Act. The Grievor was not able to persuade the Commissioner that he had been harassed. The grievance is allowed.