MPP removed from caucus after harassment, leaving no work for constituency office employees
An Ontario constituency office worker who was sexually harassed by a provincial MPP wasn’t unjustly terminated after the MPP was removed from his position for committing the harassment, an arbitrator has ruled.
The worker was a constituency assistant for a provincial Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) who was a member of the Ontario New Democratic Party (ONDP) caucus. Hired in January 2015, she worked in the MPP’s constituency office in Elliot Lake, Ont. and sometimes travelled to Toronto and other locations.
In August 2022, the worker raised concerns to the ONDP caucus about an unsafe work environment and began a paid leave of absence. Three months later, her union filed a grievance alleging workplace harassment by the MPP in the constituency office.
On Jan. 23, 2023, the ONDP caucus hired an independent investigator. The investigator interviewed the worker multiple times and three other employees who had direct knowledge of events. She also reviewed various phone call records, emails, video footage, text messages, meeting notes, and workplace policies.
On April 1, the ONDP caucus removed the MPP from the caucus pending the outcome of the investigation.
Investigation report
On July 18, the investigator issued a final report that concluded the worker’s claims of workplace harassment, sex discrimination, abuse of authority, and the creation of a toxic workplace were substantiated, and they were all in breach of the ONDP caucus’s workplace harassment, violence, and discrimination policy.
Specifically, the investigator found that the MPP pressured the worker to engage in non-consensual interactions with him, he required her to hug him on a regular basis, he engaged in “several incidents of unwanted physical and sexual contact notwithstanding the [worker’s] protests that he stop such contact,” he requested sexually explicit photos of the worker, he commented on her appearance, and pressure her to work from the office more so that he could continue sexually touching her.
The ONDP caucus provided a summary of the report’s findings to the worker, the union, and the MPP on Aug. 15. The same day, the MPP was permanently removed from the caucus and the ONDP leader confirmed in a media release that allegations of workplace misconduct against the MPP had been substantiated.
On Jan. 19, 2024, the ONDP caucus terminated the worker’s employment. The termination letter explained that because the MPP no longer held an elected seat within the caucus, the worker was no longer an employee and her employment at the constituency office was no longer covered by the collective agreement, as of April 1, 2023, when the MPP had been removed from the caucus. The letter also stated that there was no meaningful work for her due to the absence of any nearby constituency offices, so her position was deemed to be frustrated.
The employment of other constituency assistants in the Elliot Lake office was also terminated.
Unjust termination grievance
The union filed another grievance alleging that the worker had been unjustly terminated from the ONDP caucus’s decision to remove the MPP from caucus. It also argued the termination breached the collective agreement, the Ontario Human Rights Code, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act and demanded reinstatement.
The arbitrator agreed with the ONDP caucus, finding that the worker wasn’t terminated for just cause. Instead, her employment, along with that of the other employees in the Elliot Lake constituency office, was frustrated “through no fault of her own,” when the MPP was removed from the ONDP caucus. The removal of the MPP was legitimately based on the findings of workplace harassment by the independent investigator and the ONDP caucus had little choice but to remove the MPP, said the arbitrator.
The arbitrator dismissed the unjust termination grievance and remitted “the matter of remedy arising out of the frustration of the [worker’s] employment, as well as in respect of the workplace harassment grievance,” back to the parties. The arbitrator also retained jurisdiction to determine a remedy if the parties were unable to reach an agreement. See Ontario New Democratic Party Caucus v. Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, Local 343, 2024 CanLII 74335.
