Grievance Case Summary - G-302

The Grievor and one of the managers who reported to him were the subject of a harassment complaint. One of seven allegations concerned a meeting where the Grievor was reported to have used threatening and offensive language towards the complainant. This was the only allegation to have been found to be substantiated. The Grievor was invited to make written submissions on the issue of whether he should be the subject of disciplinary action. After he did so, he was informed that the only measure that was to be taken was that he would be required to take a course on negotiation. It is then that he presented his grievance but it had by then been more than 30 days had passed since he was initially informed of the finding that he had harassed the complainant. Accordingly, an issue arose as to whether the grievance had been submitted within the time permitted by the Act. The Level l adjudicator determined that the grievance was timely but, on the merits, upheld the finding of harassment, in part because there was evidence that there had been other occasions where the Grievor lost his temper with subordinates.

The Grievor did not comply with the time limit established by the Act but the deadline should be extended by the Commissioner because the Grievor had an honest belief which was not unreasonable that his submission to the Respondent could lead to a reopening of the decision and because this case raises an issue that can have broad implications for the Force, which relates to the circumstances where it is appropriate to conclude that intimidating behaviour amounts to harassment. On the merits, the decision making should be set aside because the adjudication of a harassment complaint should not be perceived as an opportunity to conduct a comprehensive review of a member's management style and address issues that are better addressed through the performance evaluation route.

The grievance should be allowed.

The Commissioner agreed with the findings and recommendations of the Committee and allowed the grievance.