NC-237 - Harassment

The Appellant appealed the Respondent’s decision that he failed to demonstrate that he had been harassed.

On appeal, the Appellant alleges that an investigator was not impartial, that an important witness was able to give his statement by telephone only and that he did not become aware of this statement until after his appeal had been filed. 

The ERC found that the Appellant should have raised his concern about the partiality of one of the investigators before the Respondent rendered her decision and that he therefore could not raise this concern on appeal. The ERC also found that the fact that the Appellant was not provided with a full witness statement before the Respondent rendered her decision and was provided with only a summary of that statement prevented him from fully addressing the facts relevant to his complaint. Therefore, the ERC found that there was a breach of procedural fairness. 

The ERC recommended that the appeal be allowed. 

The Commissioner finds that the Appellant did not demonstrate that the Respondent’s decision contravenes the principles of procedural fairness, is based on an error of law or is clearly unreasonable. As a result, the appeal is dismissed.