# 2019-009 Harassment

Case summary

F&R Date: 2019-06-07

The grievor submitted what proved to be an unfounded sexual harassment complaint in which all his allegations were found to be false and submitted in bad faith. He grieved its mishandling.

The Committee found that the complaint had been mishandled for a prolonged period until a different Commanding Officer (CO) took charge of it. The Committee recommended that the Final Authority (FA) express regret for the mishandling and endorse the process-correcting actions taken by the second CO.

FA decision summary

The Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) agreed with the Committee's recommendation to express regret for the manner in which the grievor's harassment complaint was handled and endorse the corrective measures implemented by the Chief of Command (CoC). The CDS noted several breaches in procedural fairness and found that the provisions of the Defence Administrative Orders and Directives 2017-1, Military Grievance Process were not followed by the CoC or the Initial Authority (IA). He found that the lack of disclosure by the IA was "fatal to the IA's decision", but that the breaches were fixed by his de novo determination of the grievance. The CDS noted that the harassment investigation was completed and that the Responsible Officer had rendered a decision, finding that the grievor's allegations were false and that the harassment complaint was made in bad faith. However, he stated that the outcome of the harassment complaint fell outside of the scope of the grievance on the handling of the complaint. Noting that the Canadian Armed Forces took two and a half years between the harassment complaint and the letter of closure, the CDS found that the redress measures put in place by the CoC addressed the issue of the maladministration of the grievor's harassment complaint. The measures included maintenance of the up-to-date harassment training for the unit leadership and personnel, the maintenance of trained Harassment Advisors and Workplace Relation Advisors within unit line, and production of the Regimental Standing Orders on the handling of harassment complaints and grievances. The CDS concluded by stating that he was not addressing the grievor's request for "an acceptable alternative to civil litigation."