NC-240 - Harssament

The Respondent found that the Alleged Harasser had not engaged in harassment towards the Appellant contrary to section 2.1 of the Code of Conduct. The Appellant appealed the Decision, alleging that the decision is clearly unreasonable and the Respondent made an error of law.

The Appellant alleges that the Respondent ignored evidence when he concluded that no order had been given for one of the behaviours in the allegation. The Appellant argues that the Respondent committed errors of law in his application of the “balance of probabilities” test. The Appellant submitted new evidence with his Appeal submissions. 

The ERC found that the Appellant’s new evidence should be accepted. The ERC further found that the Respondent had provided insufficient reasons for his findings. The ERC concluded that this finding was determinative of the appeal.

The ERC also noted that applying the wrong legal test, such as the test for discourtesy in response to an allegation of harassment, would be an error of law and would be inconsistent with the RCMP harassment policy.

The ERC recommended that the Commissioner allow the appeal and send the case back for redetermination by a new decision-maker. 

The Adjudicator agreed with the ERC Findings and Recommendations and as such, adopted the ERC Findings and Recommendations in their entirety as their reasons for concluding for that this appeal be allowed.