NC-189 - Harassment

The Appellant appealed the decision of the Commanding Officer of “[X]” Division (Respondent) finding that he failed to establish that he had experienced harassment.

On appeal, the Appellant alleges that the decision violates the principles of procedural fairness, since the investigators failed to present material evidence in their final report. He also argues that the decision is clearly unreasonable, since the Respondent failed to consider material evidence and to analyze the harassment complaint as a whole. In support of his arguments, the Appellant presented new evidence.

The ERC found that the new evidence was inadmissible, as the Appellant, had he acted with due diligence, could have presented it before the Respondent’s decision was rendered. Furthermore, the ERC found that the documents submitted by the Appellant during the investigation were appended to the final investigation report and were therefore before the Respondent when he rendered his decision.

The ERC also found that the Respondent had assessed the allegations as a whole on the basis of the evidence on the record, that the reasons for decision contained no errors of fact and that the decision was therefore not clearly unreasonable.

Finally, the ERC found that, although the Respondent referred to the intent of the Alleged Harasser in the decision, he clearly understood the legal framework he was required to apply and did not take into consideration the Alleged Harasser’s intent when he concluded that the Appellant failed to establish that the Alleged Harasser had harassed him.

The ERC recommends that the appeal be dismissed.