Grievance Case Summary - G-253

The Grievor was assigned as a United Nations civilian police officer in a foreign country. She brought a harassment complaint against three members, one of whom was her supervisor. She charged her supervisor with trying to have her transferred to another detachment, with threatening her, and with making inappropriate comments about her in front of colleagues. As to the other two members, the Grievor indicated that they ordered her repatriation to Canada without reasonable grounds.

The RCMP refused to investigate the merits of the complaint, except for the allegation of threats from the Grievor's supervisor. The refusal to investigate led to another grievance. The RCMP investigated the allegation of threats, but concluded that there was no harassment involved. According to the Appropriate Officer, the supervisor did not intend to threaten the Grievor. The Grievor presented a grievance against this decision.

The Level I adjudicator concluded that [translation] "a reasonable person could have seen the [supervisor's] comments as threatening and intimidating." Therefore, he upheld the grievance and asked the Grievor to consider his decision as a formal apology from the RCMP. The Grievor presented a Level II grievance because she was not satisfied with the redress given.

On February 8, 2001, the ERC issued its findings and recommendations. The Committee concluded that the harassment complaint was justified. The supervisor's comments were threatening and even if he claims to not have intended to threaten the Grievor, he should have known that his comments could be perceived this way. The Committee explained that, except for the RCMP's official apology, there were no other redresses that could be taken because of the time elapsed since the incident. The Committee recommended that the grievance be allowed and that a letter of apology be sent to the Grievor, with copies to her supervisor and superior.

On March 30, 2001, the Commissioner rendered his decision. His decision, as summarized by his office, is as follows:

The Commissioner agreed with the findings and recommendations of the External Review Committee. He ordered the Divisional Commander to write a letter of apology to the Grievor, on behalf of the RCMP, for not providing her with a harassment-free work environment and acknowledging that the supervisor's comments were improper and offensive. The Commissioner also ordered a copy of the letter to be sent to the supervisor and immediate superior.