Summer student’s account of incident was credible
A City of Toronto worker’s termination for sexual harassment has been upheld.
Virender Khurana, 52, was a full-time maintenance planner and scheduler for the City of Toronto’s water department.
In the summer of 2016, Khurana met a university student who was working as a summer student at the Toronto Island Treatment Plant with him. They didn’t work directly with each other, but sometimes had lunch in the same group and rode the ferry back to the city together.
Late that summer, Khurana and the student became Facebook friends and continued to sporadically communicate after the student finished working and returned to school. The communication generally consisted of greetings and Facebook was their only method of communication.
On Dec. 19, 2016, Khurana sent a public post on Facebook to the student inviting her to visit him at the water treatment facility where he was working. The student agreed to visit on Dec. 20 and Khurana met her with a hug and gave her a tour. Khurana then invited her to go for a coffee and she agreed to go to a coffee shop. Khurana agreed to drive her to the subway and they stopped at a second coffee shop before continuing to a subway station.
After Khurana dropped the student off, he called her on her cellphone.
The student then called her boyfriend and together they contacted police. That night, she messaged Khurana on Facebook telling him not to contact her anymore and then blocked him. Khurana messaged her on WhatsApp and she responded by blocking his number.
The next day — Dec. 21 — the student filed a complaint with the city against Khurana. According to the student, Khurana parked his car at the second coffee shop and then grabbed her face, kissing her on the lips. Then, while driving to the subway station, he placed his hand on her upper thigh and said she should forget about her boyfriend. Finally, when they arrived at the station, the student said Khurana told her she couldn’t leave his car until she gave him another kiss.
The student also claimed that Khurana has asked her multiple times on Dec. 20 when he could see her again and told her he had saved her personal cellphone number from the calls she had made to him while arranging to meet that morning.
The city’s human rights office investigated the student’s complaint. Khurana said the extent of his relationship with the student was professional and friendly but he had no intention of meeting with her socially, though he acknowledged communicating with her on Facebook. He also said the student initiated the Dec. 20 visit — contradicting his invitation on Facebook — and it was she who gave him an unreciprocated hug when she arrived, and it was her idea to go out for coffee. He also denied doing any of the things in the car of which he was accused.
Khurana’s manager met with him in early April with follow-up questions and to ask if he had any relevant information he wanted to share, which he did not. The city determined that the student’s allegations were likely true and terminated Khurana’s employment on April 13, 2017.
The arbitrator noted this was a “he said, she said” case that boiled down to credibility and the student’s account was more credible. Through the city’s investigation and the arbitration hearing, the student “provided a consistent account of events,” while Khurana did not — he contradicted the evidence involving his Facebook communications, tried to minimize his relationship with the student, and avoided some questions about what happened. In addition, the student’s actions after the incident were consistent with someone who had suffered a traumatic event and Khurana showed no remorse about the matter, the arbitrator said.
The grievance was dismissed and the termination for sexual harassment upheld.
Reference: Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 79 and City of Toronto. Christine Schmidt — arbitrator. Amandi Esonwanne for employer. Douglas Wray for employee. March 17, 2020.
