NC-129 - Harassment

The Appellant filed a harassment complaint (Complaint) against his supervisor (Alleged Harasser) based on her advising him that he would be transferred out his First Nations Policing (FNP) position because it was designated as a position to be occupied by a First Nations member. The Complaint consisted of three alleged behaviours, namely that the Alleged Harasser: removed the Appellant from his position due to his race (Allegation 1); asked the Appellant to contact another member to inform him that he would no longer be in his position (Allegation 2); and, failed to approve the Appellant’s attendance at a FNP conference, although she had approved attendance for his colleague (Allegation 3).

The Respondent determined that she had sufficient information to make a decision without mandating a formal investigation. She dismissed the Complaint, finding that the allegations did not reveal “improper conduct”, one of the criteria required to make a finding of harassment.

The Appellant appealed the Decision, asserting that the Respondent should have mandated an investigation. In addition, the Appellant asserts that his Complaint should have been deemed established on the basis that his human rights had been violated.   

The ERC found that that the record, which consisted of information that had been obtained as part of a limited fact-finding investigation, was sufficient for the Respondent to render the Decision. The ERC also found that although the Respondent did not engage in a discrimination analysis pursuant to the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Decision adequately addressed the central issue of whether harassment was established and was therefore not clearly unreasonable. 

The ERC recommended that the appeal be dismissed.

The Commissioner’s decision, as summarized by his office, is as follows:

The Appellant filed a harassment complaint against the Alleged Harasser. The Respondent determined that she had sufficient information to make a decision without mandating a formal investigation. She determined that the behaviours as described or as a series of incidents did not constitute harassment.

The Appellant filed a Statement of Appeal, claiming that the decision was reached in a manner that contravened the applicable principles of procedural fairness, was based on an error of law and is clearly unreasonable.

The appeal was referred to the ERC and in a Report containing Findings and Recommendations, the ERC recommended that the appeal be dismissed. Having considered the facts of the matter, the applicable statutory provisions, and the relevant jurisprudence, the Adjudicator concurred with the findings of the ERC and dismissed the appeal.