Canadian Employment Law Today

Canadian HR Reporter, 2021 4 A FEDERAL adjudicator has upheld the firing of a CTV news anchor for sexually harassing multiple female colleagues over several years. The worker was originally hired by CTV network as a news reporter in 1995, moving to Toronto five years later to become a news anchor and reporter. In 2015, the worker became a weekend news anchor for CTV News Channel, working evenings from Saturday to Wednesday. CTV had a code of business conduct that prohibited "all types of unlawful discrimina - tion, including harassment, whether directed against an individual or group." The code also defined harassment as "vexatious behaviour that is repetitive and hostile or unwanted that degrades, humiliates, embarrasses, affects or insults an employee's dignity or integrity and results in a harmful work environment for the employee." It included examples and was in line with the legislative definition. Bell Media, the company that owns CTV, also had a policy on workplace violence and harassment prevention that stated the company had a zero-tolerance policy and "workplace violence or harassment of any kind is not tolerated and may result in disciplinary measure up to and including dismissal." In May 2013, CTV received a complaint that he had made inappropriate comments to female colleagues, including remarks about their physical appearance. The worker admitted to making the comments but said that he didn't think they impacted his colleagues negatively. CTV gave him a written warning that said such behaviour was inap - propriate and that if he failed to conduct himself professionally and with good judg- ment, there would be "further progressive discipline up to and including termination of your employment." Around the same time, the president of CTV News told the worker that "if you do this again, I will fire you." Two formal harassment complaints In December 2017, CTV received a formal complaint from a female employee alleging the worker had harassed her over a period of time. This was followed by another formal complaint from a second female employee in January 2018. The first complainant had been with Bell Media since 2012, starting as an intern and working her way up to the role of lineup editor and writer. She said that when she started, a female colleague warned her that the worker would likely send her inappro - priate emails. Before long, the worker did start sending her emails, first praising her work and then moving on to her appearance. This evolved to private messages on Facebook that included comments about how lucky her boyfriend was and that she was "gorgeous." She felt uncomfortable about the messages, but she didn't know how to respond as she was young and new. The messages decreased after April 2013 when the worker received the written warning. The complainant also no longer worked the evening shift with the worker, so they had less interaction. However, in 2016, the messages started up again. The worker eventually invited her for a cup of coffee and sometimes offered her a ride home along with more comments, which she deflected. She started feeling anxiety and stress, particularly when he said he had brought her favourite beer into work for her as a reward — he mentioned that he saw her holding the beer in a Facebook photo. She later checked and saw that friends had posted two photos of her holding a bottle of beer at a lake while she was wearing a bikini. She blocked the worker from seeing any photos she posted on Facebook after that. In April 2017, some members of the news team were discussing breaking news and texting the show's director at 1 a.m. A comment was made about a "booty call" and the worker asked what that meant. Shortly after it was explained to him, he emailed the complainant asking, "Hey u still up gurl?" She didn't respond and he sent her a second message. The worker continued to send her messages referencing her appear - ance. She didn't overtly tell him to stop, but she thought her deflection or lack of response sometimes would make it clear that the messages were unwanted. The second complainant had started as a freelance writer in July 2014, working evening shifts with the worker. She said that the worker initially treated her well but soon started making personal comments that made her uncomfortable, including about her looks and her clothes and calling her pet names. The comments were sometimes made verbally and sometimes in writing, by email, or in private Facebook messages. The complainant felt "creeped out" and that the worker was trying to take advan - tage of his senior status while she was just starting out. She initially tried to ignore the comments, but the worker continued making them so she "unfriended" him on Facebook. She then apologized to him for doing so and explained that the frequency and intensity of the messages was too much and "just wasn't OK." Things toned down for a while, but soon he began emailing her about how attractive she was. She "refriended" him on Facebook, and he resumed sending her messages on that platform. On one occasion, the worker suggested that he had a close relationship with and easy access to the president of CTV News, which wasn't the case. This made the second complainant feel that the worker had influence in the newsroom and could impact her career. Both complainants indicated that the rise of the "MeToo" movement and stories of brave women coming forward about harass - ment inspired them to do something about the worker's conduct. The first complainant CASE IN POINT: SEXUAL HARASSMENT When workplace sexual harassment happens, it's often where there's a power imbalance between the two people. In such circumstances, the subject of the harassment feels they can't come forward or take measures to stop the harassment. A harasser who has power or seniority can dismiss inappropriate conduct as joking, but the consequences can be more damaging for the victim. BACKGROUND News anchor cancelled for harassing multiple colleagues Two official complaints and other unofficial reports revealed pattern of commenting on appearance and sexuality of young, female colleagues One complainant said she knew that other women had received inappropriate messages from the worker and she felt a responsibility to junior employees who might not feel they could speak out.

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