# 2021-146 Pay and Benefits, Harassment

Case summary

F&R Date: 2022-03-21

The grievor contested the conduct and outcome of a harassment investigation as she believed that the investigator did not make a sufficient effort to contact her witnesses, showed bias, made presumptions and included untrue facts in his report. The grievor stated that the handling of her complaint had a significant and negative impact on her wellbeing and on her faith in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) institutions. As redress, the grievor requested that her complaint be re-investigated.

The Commander of the CAF Transition group, acting as the Initial Authority (IA), denied the grievor redress. The IA stated that in an administrative investigation, the onus is on the complainant to provide sufficient evidence to show that the alleged harassment took place. The IA indicated that the grievor did not provide sufficient information to trigger the investigator to set up an interview with the grievor's witness or to verify the information contained in screen captures she provided. As the grievor did not provide sufficient evidence to show that all the criteria for harassment were met, the IA found that it was reasonable for the investigator or the Responsible Officer (RO) to determine that the allegations were unfounded.

The Committee conducted a de novo review in order to assess whether the harassment investigation was conducted properly and whether reasonable conclusions were reached. The Committee examined each of the six allegations made by the grievor, the evidence gathered by the investigator, and any evidence provided to the Committee by the grievor. The Committee determined that in each allegation, the harassment criteria laid out in Defence Administrative Orders and Directive 5012-0, Harassment Prevention and Resolution were not satisfied by the available evidence. As such, the Committee found that the allegations were unfounded. The Committee further found that the investigation had been conducted in accordance with the applicable provisions, that the investigator made reasonable conclusions, and that the RO made a reasonable decision to close the complaint.

The Committee recommended to the Final Authority to deny the grievor redress.