# 2014-080 - Harassment, Remedial Measures

Case Summary

F&R Date: 2014–08–13

The grievor was posted on a ship. There were some performance issues that were raised as well as conflicts with some of his peers. He was issued an Initial Counselling (IC) for incidents that took place months before the IC. He alleged he was harassed and requested a transfer to another unit for a number of reasons. He eventually left the ship without permission while it was in a foreign port. He was issued a Recorded Warning (RW) for this incident.

The grievor sought the quashing and removal of both documents from his personnel files. The grievor also sought action with respect to alleged harassment and the reimbursement of his travel expenses to return to his home. He also requested apologies from various people on the ship.

The Initial Authority (IA) granted partial redress and directed that the IC be removed from the grievor's personnel files. Although the IA agreed that the grievor's attempt to make a harassment complaint may not have been handled correctly, he declined to address the harassment through the grievance process because the grievor had not sought a remedy under the proper policy. The IA did not support the reimbursement of the travel expenses because the travel had not been authorized.

The Committee had to determine whether the remedial measures the grievor received were warranted and administered in accordance with policy. The Committee also had to determine whether apologies for various incidents were justified and if the grievor's travel expenses for returning home should have been reimbursed.

The Committee agreed with the IA that the IC be quashed because it was not issued by the appropriate authority and that the related issues were too dated for corrective action to take place.

The Committee found that the grievor had absented himself from his position and had returned home without authority thus justifying the issuance of the RW. Accordingly, the Committee also found that the grievor should not be reimbursed his expenses for his unauthorized travel.

The Committee declined to address the alleged harassment explaining that it was simply insufficient for the grievor to list incidents in his grievance and expect an investigation to be launched. The grievor should submit a formal harassment complaint.

The Committee found that there was no basis for the apologies requested by the grievor and that, in any case, the Courts have found that ordering an apology may be contrary to one's freedom of expression under section 2(b) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Committee found that the grievor had been aggrieved by the awarding of the IC and recommended that the Final Authority ensures that it has been removed as directed and disposed of in accordance with the Library and Archives of Canada Act.

CDS Decision Summary

CDS Decision Date: 2015–02–24

The CDS agreed with the Committee's findings and recommendation to partially uphold the grievance. The CDS directed that the grievor's IC, but also the NOI and the divisional notes for the indicated periods be removed from his file.