NC-277 - Harassment

The Appellant alleged that the Alleged Harasser engaged in a pattern of ongoing intentional harassment and abusive conduct. Additionally, the Appellant reported that she felt that the Alleged Harasser participated in a meeting facilitated by the Informal Conflict Management Program (ICMP) in bad faith.

On the advice of RCMP policy centres, the Respondent excluded the allegation concerning the ICMP-facilitated meeting from the investigation. By excluding this allegation, the Respondent sought to preserve the integrity of the ICMP.

In her Decision, the Respondent found that there was no evidence that the allegations brought forward by the Appellant supported a prima facie finding that the Alleged Harasser’s conduct amounted to a contravention of the Code of Conduct.

On appeal, among other things, the Appellant argued that excluding the ICMP-centered allegation from the investigation was an error of law and clearly unreasonable. By extension, she argued that the investigation was incomplete, and that the Respondent and the investigator failed in their duties. She also argued that the Respondent’s request to withdraw the contested allegation demonstrated bias. Finally, the Appellant argued that the Respondent erred in law when she failed to consider the cumulative effect of the allegations, and put the onus on the Appellant to establish a prima facie case. 

The ERC found that the Appellant did not provide compelling evidence that the investigation was incomplete, that the Respondent or investigator failed in their duties, or that the Respondent’s request demonstrated bias.

The ERC found, however, that there were errors of law, because the Respondent failed to consider the allegations collectively, as a series of events, and the cumulative effect on the Appellant. Moreover, the provision on which the Respondent relied on to exclude the contested allegation from the investigation did not apply in the Appellant’s circumstances.

Finally, the ERC found that the decision to exclude the contested allegation was clearly unreasonable, because there was no analysis to support the exclusion or the reliance on a provision that did not apply.

The ERC recommends that the appeal be allowed, and that the RCMP acknowledge the errors, and explore measures to help avoid repeating those mistakes.