Memorial to deceased inmates too raw for correctional officers

An Ontario prison must remove a memorial to deceased inmates outside the facility to protect the psychological health and safety of staff who were first responders to incidents during which the deaths occurred, an arbitrator has ruled.

The Elgin Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC) is a maximum-security prison in London, Ont. Over the course of a 12-year period, 13 inmates died. Many EMDC employees were first responders to the incidents that caused the deaths, leaving them with significant psychological effects. Some received critical incident stress debriefing and some were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The union local president was a correctional officer who responded to an incident in December 2017 in which an inmate hanged himself. She had spoken to him shortly before his body was found, and she had to stand watch over the scene for five hours until the coroner arrived. After this incident, the deceased inmate’s family protested outside the EMDC and displayed large photos of the inmate’s body, which upset her.

On June 3, 2018, families of inmates who died while at the EMDC set up a memorial of painted wooden crosses, each bearing the name of one of the deceased and some with photographs. It was at an intersection close to the EMDC on Crown land, near the road and easily visible to drivers.

Anyone entering or leaving the EMDC had to drive by the intersection, so staff drove past the memorial twice every day. Those with PTSD found that the memorial exacerbated their symptoms and many others had to seek psychological help.

As time passed, people added features to the memorial, including a protest sign, solar panels to power lights, an engraved plaque, a memorial lantern, candles, angel statuettes, stuffed animals, personal belongings of the deceased, and a figure illuminated by a stake light with clothing associated with the deceased.

In September 2018, the union local president informed the EMDC about their concerns regarding the memorial. She reminded management two months later after the family of another inmate who had died picketed the facility and displayed post-mortem photos.

In January 2019, the ministry met with family members and proposed a permanent memorial, but the union didn’t want something in the same spot. Further protests at the EMDC entrance took place in April, causing minor damage to some staff vehicles.

The union filed a grievance, claiming that the employer failed to remove the memorial, which created an unacceptable risk to the psychological health and safety of EMDC staff in violation of the collective agreement and the Ontario Health and Safety Act.

The memorial remained at the intersection through the rest of 2019 and 2020.

The arbitrator noted that the City of London had no bylaw on roadside memorials, but he referred to other cities that did. For example, in Mississauga, Ont., memorials could not be distracting to road users and had a size limit. If London had a similar bylaw, the memorial in question would violate both rules, the arbitrator said, adding that various jurisdictions had time limits for such memorials ranging from six months to one year.

The arbitrator found that the memorial outside the EMDC had been in place continuously for nearly three years and had “a deleterious effect on the mental health of the staff of the EMDC.” There was no reasonable remedy other than to remove the installation from its current location, the arbitrator concluded.

The arbitrator determined that the ministry did not take every precaution reasonably necessary to protect the health and safety of employees. The ministry was ordered to remove the memorial and advise the families of the deceased inmates. In addition, if the memorial was re-installed on Crown property near the EMDC without the union’s agreement, the employer was to remove it.