Woman felt 'violated, uncomfortable, fearful'
When an education counsellor began her career with the Saskatchewan Polytechnic school in September of 2014, a colleague introduced himself immediately and visited her office almost every day.
Kim Wolbaum worked at the Regina campus when she first met Afroze Naqvi. He went into her office on her first or second day and said he was the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Faculty Association (SPFA) representative and she could come to him with any concerns.
But almost immediately, testified Wolbaum, Naqvi began making more frequent visits to her office, sometimes lasting for an hour.
“He would stand right over top me. I said to him, ‘Hey you’re in my personal space.’ I would back my chair up until it hit the wall and I would cross my legs and put my foot out to prevent him from getting any closer to me. I felt violated, uncomfortable, grossed out, fearful,” said Wolbaum.
After three months of what she felt was Naqvi’s increasingly harassing behaviour, Wolbaum would eat her lunch inside her office, with the light off and the blind shut, to discourage Naqvi from visiting.
Most of the discussions were of a personal nature, said Wolbaum.
On one occasion, testified Wolbaum, Naqvi had his hands in his pants while talking to her. He then pulled out his hands and used her hand sanitizer to cleanse his hands.
“I felt like maybe he was trying to sexually arouse himself while standing over me asking me out for lunch,” said Wolbaum.
Naqvi also began to talk about his own sex life and how he was not happy with his wife.
When she was asked about her own sex life, Wolbaum told Naqvi she did not wish to discuss it with him.
On July 25, 2016, Naqvi “made the comment to me that I smelled like urine and that I didn’t shower,” said Wolbaum. She then went to the lunchroom and began crying.
Some other employees saw Wolbaum crying and they advised her to make a formal complaint to the acting supervisor, whothen escalated the allegations to a harassment coordinator.
Wolbaum later spoke to an investigator hired to examine the allegations.
On Sept. 30, 2016, Naqvi was suspended for 10 days without pay after a report was issued that found Naqvi did participate in harassment of Wolbaum.
“You did not believe your actions constituted sexual harassment and denied the findings of the report. As such, you showed little acceptance of or remorse for your actions,” read the letter of discipline.
On Oct. 25, Naqvi and the SPFA grieved the decision and argued the punishment was too harsh for an employee with 33 years of experience and no previous discipline on his record.
Arbitrator Anne Wallace disagreed and upheld the suspension.
“Wolbaum was quite emotional at times during the hearing and wept at various times. I accept that tears can be a powerful tool for a good actor, but I believe Wolbaum’s tears were genuine,” said Wallace.
Naqvi testified that much of Wolbaum’s testimony was false and he did not sexually harass her, but “Wolbaum’s story overall is more inherently plausible than Naqvi’s,” said Wallace.
The union’s argument that Wolbaum should have complained earlier if the harassment was so damaging was rejected by the arbitrator.
“While someone else might have handled the situation with Naqvi differently, in all the circumstances, it is understandable that Wolbaum tolerated the behaviour for a long time before coming forward. I do believe Wolbaum was emotionally injured by Naqvi’s behaviour.”
And Naqvi’s performance while testifying was another factor in the decision, said Wallace.
“His explanations for the allegations against him appeared to be carefully crafted and rehearsed. He sometimes repeated the same story about a particular incident almost verbatim as if he had memorized what he was going to say,” said Wallace.
“Naqvi did not give straightforward answers to questions asked and was often evasive.”
Reference: Saskatchewan Polytechnic and Saskatchewan Polytechnic Faculty Association. Anne Wallace — arbitrator. Paul Clemens for the employer. Gordon Hamilton for the employee. March 26, 2018. 2018 CarswellSask 173
