# 2017-136 Harassment, Harassment, Situational Assessment

Case summary

F&R Date: 2018-05-14

The grievor submitted a harassment complaint, which, after investigation, was determined by the Responsible Officer (RO) to be unfounded. The grievor then submitted a grievance concerning the outcome of the harassment investigation, which he alleged was flawed by procedural, evidentiary and other substantial errors.

The Initial Authority concluded that the investigation had been conducted appropriately and thoroughly. He confirmed that he concurred with the findings that no harassment had occurred.

The Committee found multiple errors, both in procedure, and in the investigation report, including:

• the situational assessment (SA) had not been conducted by the RO, but was instead conducted by the investigator who had been contracted to conduct the investigation;
• there was no evidence that the SA had been reviewed or approved by the RO, therefore there was no authority for the contracted investigator to proceed with the investigation;
• the investigation report contained many subjective opinion statements, which had not been substantiated;
• the investigation report contained multiple errors in the application of legal principles; and
• there was evidence of investigator bias in including negative statements about the grievor which had no relevance to the harassment complaint or investigation.

The Committee therefore found that the report could not be relied upon. Further, the Committee found that the RO had failed in his responsibilities, in that he had clearly not thoroughly evaluated the report, prior to accepting the findings as his own. As the grievor had already been medically released from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), the Committee recommended that the Final Authority acknowledge and express regret to the grievor for the mishandling of his harassment complaint; and, consider awarding the grievor an ex gratia payment.

FA decision summary

The Acting Chief of the Defence Staff (A/CDS) agreed with the Committee's findings, including that the grievor had been aggrieved. The A/CDS offered the grievor his apologies regarding the manner in which his harassment complaint and grievance were addressed. The A/CDS recognized that neither of them was conducted in accordance with the applicable policies. The A/CDS ensured that the Chain of Command has been made aware of these serious shortcomings. Since the respondent and the grievor have released from the CAF and the events took place more than four years ago, the A/CDS agreed that there is no purpose to conduct a subsequent investigation. Consequently, and in absence of another remedy, the A/CDS agreed with the Committee's recommendation to grant the grievor an ex gratia payment in the sum of $25,000.00.