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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-2268.LaFranboise.97-03-24 ONTARIO EMPLOYES DE LA COURONNE CROWN EMPLOYEES DE L'ONTARIO 1111 GRIEVANCE COMMISSION DE SETTLEMENT REGLEMENT BOARD DES GRIEFS 180 DUNDAS STREET WEST, SUITE 2100, TORONTO ON MSG 1ZS TELEPHONE/TELEPHONE (416) 326-1388 180, RUE DUNDAS OUEST, BUREAU 2100, TORONTO (ON) M5G 1ZS FACSIMILEfTELECOPIE (416) 3211-1396 GSB # 2268/95 OPSEU # 96B180 IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION Under THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT Before THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD BETWEEN OPSEU (Lafranboise) GRIEVOR - and - the Crown in Right of Ontario (Ministry of Community & Social Services) Employer BEFORE R.J. Roberts Vice-Chairperson FOR THE A Ryder GRIEVOR Counsel Ryder, Wright, Blair & ooyle Barristers & Solicitiors FOR THE P Wiley EMPLOYER Oeputy Oirector Legal Services Branch Ministry of Community & social services HEARING June 14, 1996 October 4, 9, 1996 January 6, 7, 8, 9, 1997 ~_--.- 1 AWARD Introduction In any large organIzatIOn you WIll find a few "bad bosses" They may be regarded as"bad bosses" because they seem mtoxIcated wIth theIr power, or cold and forbIddmg, unfaIr and unreasonable, secretIve and SUSpICIOUS, ruthless and callous, manIpulatIve and untrustworthy, or dIsorganIzed and Irresponsible. Some mIght even suffer from alcohohsm or addictIOn. From a health and safety perspectIve, however one of the worst types of bad bosses must be "abUSIve" bad bosses -- those who routmely rave at, bully or demean their employees --for they can undermme theIr employees' self-esteem and self-confidence to the pomt oftnggenng senous Illness. ThiS arbItratIOn mvolves the questIOn of when, if ever, the employer WIll become hable under the health and safety prOVlSlons of article 18 1 of the collective agreement for the consequences of 2 the stress placed upon employees by an abusIve bad boss. For reasons WhICh follow, It IS / ~,~ concluded that the employer WIll be lIable for a breach of these provisIOns whenever managers fall to take adequate countermeasures In response to CIrcumstances raISIng a reasonable probabIlity that unless they do so, the practIce of abuse engaged In by a bad boss under their directIOn wIll tngger senous illness In one or more employees. In the present case, It is concluded that thiS pOInt was reached on Apnll, 1993 On thiS baSiS, the gnevance is allowed In part, subject to the determmatIOn of remedy In a subsequent phase of this proceedIng. II. Factual Background. The events leadmg to thIS arbitratIOn took place at the RIdeau RegIOnal Centre, an InstItutIOn for adults With developmental disabilItIes. It IS located In Montague, Just outsIde SmIth's Falls, Ontano At the time of these events, 1992-93, RIdeau was In the final stages of a de- mstItutIOnahzatIOn process that was deSIgned to remtegrate resIdents mto the commumty The resident populatIon had shrunk to approxImately seven hundred residents. The staff had shrunk to about eleven hundred full-time staff Currently, Rideau has about SiX hundred and eighty resIdents and nme hundred full-tIme staff. The alleged abUSIve bad boss m thiS case was Ms Noreen McNab She came to RIdeau as a superVisor of case workers In the Social Work Department ill June, 1985 From September, 1986 3 to September, 1990, however, Ms. McNab was out of the department, either actmg as executive assistant to Ms. Wynn Turner, the Admimstrator of Rideau, or on secondment to other mstItutiOns From September 1990, until she was relieved of her position m October, 1993 Ms McNab once agam performed her duties as a superViSor of case workers m the SOCial Work Department. Ms McNab was notified of the hearmg m thiS matter, and her legal representative, Ms PatncIa Brethour, appeared on her behalf on the first day of hear mg. At that time, Ms. Brethour mdiCated that for the moment she was content to have "observer" status but might request party status at a later date, however, she did not appear on any of the subsequent days of hear mg. For purposes of this arbItratiOn, It seems most convement to examme the eVIdence of Ms. McNab's conduct m the following four pen ods (1) June, 1985 to September, 1986, (2) September, 1990 to February, 1992, (3) March, 1992 to February, 1993, and, (4) March, 1993 to October 7, 1993, when semor management commenced dealing wIth the gnevor's formal complamt about Ms. McNab's abuse There WIll then follow a bnefrevIew of(5) the aftermath of the complamt. (1) June, 1985 to September, 1986 UncontradIcted eVIdence regardmg Ms. McNab's behaViOr m thIS penod was gIven by Ms Kathy Young Ms Young became Director, Fanuly and Commumty SerVIces, at RIdeau 111 1985 4 She was one of five dIrectors reportmg to Ms. Turner At that time, Ms. Young said, It was v' decIded that a group of case managers should be assembled to assIst m implementmg the de- mstItutIonahzatIon process ThIS group became part of the SocIal Work Department, whIch reported to Ms. Young At about the same time, Ms Young Said, she learned that Ms. McNab, With whom she had fnendly relatIOns, was unhappy WIth her then pOSItIOn m another mstItutIOn. Ms Young Said that she Viewed thiS as an opportumty to brmg m a highly skilled SOCial work superVisor from outSide Rideau to give badly needed aSSistance in coordmatmg the de-mstItutIOnalizatIOn of reSIdents. Ms. McNab, she Said, had a Master's degree m Social Work and conSiderable expenence as a SOCial work supervIsor She offered Ms. McNab a pOSItIOn at RIdeau as a SOCial work supervisor reportmg to her Ms. McNab accepted. Ms. McNab commenced her employment at Rideau m June, 1985 She was assigned to supervise three case workers, Ms Karen Brown, Ms. Lmda Gifford, and Ms. Gall Turcotte. For the most part, these employees did not have any formal trammg m SOCial work. They had been promoted to the pOSitIOn of case worker after havmg spent the ImtIaI parts of theIr careers as reSIdentIal counselors. Ms Young Said that she hoped that Ms. McNab would give good chmcal superVlSlon to them, m the sense of ensunng that theIr plans of actIOn for their chents met the cntenon of bemg good SOCial work. She described good SOCial work as empowenng the chent, actIvatmg thmgs that were bemg done, and takmg the correct actIOns 5 According to Ms. Young, ImtIally, Ms. McNab was a surpnse to her case workers. They found ./ her to be very demandmg She would ask them for their plans of actiOn, and when they handed them m she would mark them up and reqmre them to be redone She was hIghly cntIcal and autocratIC After a couple of months, however, Ms. McNab's case workers began to feel more comfortable wIth her They appreciated her support. She was a very strong coach and cheerleader for the group The case workers reciprocated. They began to be cheerleaders for Ms McNab They told Ms. Young how much they had learned. They even began to tease Ms. McNab about her eccentnc mannensms and style of dress. In the end, a close relationship develop between Ms. McNab and her case workers. In fact, when Ms. Turcotte left R.1deau, she and Ms. McNab became close fnends. Ms Young saId that after Ms. McNab left to become Ms. Turner's executIve aSSIstant m September, 1986, none of the case workers approached her to say that they had consIderable trouble WIth Ms. McNab They were sorry to see her go Even Ms. Karen Brown, who was to testify about later abuses bv Ms McNab, shared thIS sentiment. (2) September, 1990 to February, 1992 Once Ms. McNab returned to the SocIal Work Department m September 1990, a dIfferent story began to emerge Ms McNab was assIgned to supervIse three case workers, Ms. Martha 6 Bowman, Ms. SheIla DIxon, and Ms. LOUIse Healey Ms. Healey was a formally traIned socIal worker Ms. DIxon had been a reSIdential counselor prior to beIng promoted to the posItlon of case manager It was not mdIcated whether Ms. Bowman had receIved formal socIal work trammg pnor to becommg a case manager Accordmg to Ms. Young, before Ms. McNab arnved In the department she met WIth these three case workers, both mdIvIdually and together She told them that Ms. McNab was possIbly one of the best SOCial work superVIsors In the Mimstry and RIdeau was lucky to have her At the same tlme, draWIng upon the prevIOUS expenence of her case workers WIth Ms. McNab, she warned i them that ImtIally, they would find Ms. McNab to be demandIng, dIctatonal, and pedantIC That, she told them, would only last for about two months. Once Ms. McNab became accustomed to them, she would change her style Just as she had done before. Ms. Young also adVIsed them that If after two months they wanted to change supervIsors, she would change them. Ms. Bowman and Ms. DIxon testlfied at the hearIng. Also testIfymg were two other case workers who came under the supervlSlon of Ms. McNab later on In the penod September, 1990 to February, 1992, Ms Karen Brown and Mr Doug Ferner The eVIdence of all of these WItnesses WIll be set forth senatIm herembelow and contrasted, where pertInent, WIth eVIdence from Ms Young Martha Bowman Re Sept. '90-Feb. '92 7 Ms. Bowman had been a case manager m the SocIal Work Department at RIdeau smce August, ,.,. 1987 She was a self-possessed, mature woman who, It seems, had spent some time pnor to the commencement of her employment m a convent. Ms McNab supervised her from September 1990 to March, 1 991 Ms Bowman testIfied that from the start, she found that Ms. McNab ruled her case workers through a constant state of mtlmldatlOn. Bemg wIth Ms. McNab, she said, was lIke ndmg the tall of a dragon. One mmute she would be sweet, and the next mmute she would be In a full blown rage. Ms. Bowman Said that she found Ms McNab's abuse very difficult to take SometImes Ms. McNab would force her to rewnte her reports 14 to 15 times. The final product would be almost Identical to the ongmal. Ms McNab would come mto her office, put her hand on Ms. Bowman's shoulder or hand to stop her from \vntmg Then she would yell, "What do you thmk you are dOIng here? Do you know what thIS IS!" On a daily baSIS, Ms Bowman Said, Ms. McNab would rewrIte thIngs that Ms. Bowman had wrItten for her and throw them at her Ms. McNab, she Said, had no sense of personal space. She would back Ms. Bowman up agaInst the wall and talk down to her BeIng subjected to thIS treatment, Ms Bowman Said, dId not prevent her from complaInIng about It to Ms. McNab She had been through a SImIlar expenence In the past and felt that confrontIng the abUSIve supervIsor was the best way to handle It. When she spoke to Ms. McNab, however, 8 the latter shook m her chair with anger She clenched her fists and shouted at her If Ms. Bowman walked out ofthe office because she couldn't take thIS treatment anymore, Ms McNab would shout at her m the hall Afterwards, Ms McNab became even more abusive At thIS pomt, Ms. Bowman Said, she decided to go to Ms. Young and complam about Ms McNab s abuse She told Ms Young m great detail what Ms. McNab was domg She was m tears. Ms. Young was very SUpportIve When Ms. Young asked her what she wanted her to do, she told her that she wanted her to tell Ms. McNab to act logically, mtelhgently and respect her By December, 1990, however, there was no change In Ms. McNab's abUSive behavlOr Moreover It was clear from Ms. McNab's demeanor toward her that she knew everythmg that Ms. Bowman had said about her to Ms. Young. Ms. Bowman then deCIded to meet once agam With Ms. Young to request to leave Ms. McNab's superVlSlon. She periodIcally renewed thIS request throughout the rest of December and January, 1991 By January, Ms. Bowman said, she had reached her lowest pomt and had even called a CrISIS hne for emotIOnal aSSistance Fmally, m February, 1991, Ms. Young adVIsed her that she could leave Ms. McNab's superVISIOn. At the same tIme, however, Ms. Young emphatIcally stated that If Ms. Bowman deCIded to accept thIS offer, she would lose her case load. Accordmg to Ms Bowman, gettmg reheved of her case load was tantamount to bemg declared to be an IrresponSible case worker who was not m the good graces of management. It was like a form of pUnIshment. 9 Nevertheless, Ms. Bowman took the transfer and was requlfed to perform memal tasks for her /' new supervIsor, Mr Bob Martel, until she once agaIn began to get cases In July, 1991 Even though she was a umon steward at the tIme, she never gneved. Ms. Young Re Ms. Bowman, Sept. '90-Feb. '92 Ms Young testlfied that almost from the outset, Ms. Bowman and Ms. McNab had problems wIth each other Ms. Bowman was not producmg the reports that Ms. McNab requested. They were late and Improperly wrItten. As a result, less than one month after bemg transferred to Ms. McNab's supervlSlon, Ms. Bowman wanted to be transferred out. She was m tears. Ms. Young asked her to walt a lIttle longer She also asked Ms. McNab to back off a bIt. In order to assIst Ms. Bowman by gIVmg her a date to work towards, Ms. Young scheduled a second meetmg wIth her to dISCUSS the SItuatIOn as It appeared at that tIme. At thIS second meetmg, Ms. Bowman was once agaIn In tears. She saId that thmgs were not gomg well Ms. Young then talked to Ms. McNab and asked her what she wanted Ms. Bowman to do Ms. McNab s response seemed reasonable. She saId that she was trymg to get Ms. Bowman to Improve her wrItmg. ThIS demand dId not seem particularly onorous. Ms. Young had checked WIth another supervIsor, Mr Bob Martel, and he agreed that Ms. Bowman dId not wnte well and dId not have good case management skIlls. About two weeks afterwards, Ms. Young Said, she talked to Ms. Bowman and told her that she 10 would move her back to Mr Martel's supervisIOn, but with the proVISO that she would have no r case load. She would spend her time learning and doing statistics for hIm. Ms. Bowman dId not express any concern and readIly agreed. Later on, she told her that she was a lot happIer Upon cross-eXamInatIOn, Ms. Young testIfied that she dId not remember exactly what Ms Bowman said to her about Ms. McNab's treatment of her, but she knew that Ms Bowman was not happy wIth Ms. McNab's supervIsIOn. She dId not recall whether Ms. Bowman told her that Ms. McNab yelled at her When asked whether she knew that Ms. McNab yelled at employees, Ms. Young rephed that Ms. McNab had a loud VOIce. You could hear her comIng down the hall ! and sometImes from floor to floor When Ms. McNab did so, Ms. Young saId, she never heard ['. her make a derogatory remark. Ms. Young also testIfied that Ms. Bowman dId not tell her that Ms. McNab made her rewrIte reports 14 to 15 times, but only that she had to rewrite reports. ThIS was not unusual, she saId. Part ofMs McNab's role was to ensure reports were legible and made sense She dId not recall Ms Bowman's telhng her that at the end of the process the final report closely resembled the ongInal, nor that Ms. McNab would throw reports back at her Ms Young agreed that when Ms Bowman's caSe load was removed as a condItIOn of her transfer away from Ms. McNab's supervISIon, there was a reductIOn In the sIgmficance of her responslbIhtIes She also agreed that Ms. Bowman had been dOIng case work SInce 1987 and In that time neIther she nor Mr Martel notIced any problems WIth her work. There had been no 11 complamts about her wrItmg or case management skIlls pnor to her transfer to Ms. McNab's / supervISIOn. When asked how she deternuned that Ms Bowman had Improved enough to get back her case load m July 1991 Ms Young rephed that she dId not know She said that Mr Martel would have to be consulted about that. Sheila Dixon Re Sept. '90-Feb. '92 Ms DIxon testIfied that she had been an employee at RIdeau since 1976 PrIor to becoming a case worker m the SOCIal Work Department, she had been a resIdential counselor Ms. DIxon was supervIsed by Ms. McNab from September, 1990 to September, 1992 Accordmg to Ms. DIxon, some tIme after she began workmg for Ms. McNab she became very concerned about the Impact of Ms. McNab s abuse upon a co- worker, Mr Ene Banford. Mr Banford was not one of the ongmal case workers aSSIgned to Ms. McNab WhIle It IS not clear from the eVIdence, It seems lIkely that he was transferred m at about the same time as Ms. Bowman was transferred out. Ms. DIxon Said that Ms. McNab screamed at Mr Banford, callmg hIm derogatory names She contmually made abUSIve and condescendmg remarks to and about hIm m hIS presence ThIS abuse had a fnghtenmg Impact upon hIm. He developed a rash all over hIS face, became shaky 12 and told Ms. Dixon that he was taking medicatIOn. / Ms DIxon saId that she became very upset. It seemed to her that Mr Banford was becomIng SUiCIdal She went to Ms. Young s office and told her what was happenIng to Mr Banford. She specIfically told Ms. Young that the abuse of Mr Banford was so bad that she thought he mIght commIt SUiCide. Accordmg to Ms. DIxon, Ms. Young dId not do anythmg for Mr Banford m response to her complamt. After that, she said, Ms. McNab's abuse ofEnc Banford got worse. It appeared that the more Ms. McNab could get away with, the worse she got. Ms. DIxon testIfied that she also was bemg abused by Ms. McNab She recalled one mstance where Ms. McNab kicked a bunch of chairs around her office. ThIs fnghtened her colleagues so much that they tned to talk Ms DIxon mto makmg a complamt. She refused to do so When asked why, Ms DIxon 1l11tmlly saId that she had two reasons first, nothmg ever happened In response to complaInts about Ms. McNab's behaviOr; and secondly, the other managers In the department were worse bosses than Ms McNab, but m other ways than bemg abusIve She then went on to say that like everyone else under Ms. McNab's supervIsIOn, she felt that she had become a tYPIcal subject of vIctImIzatIOn. They were lIke hostages, Just plaIn scared and IntImIdated. LIke them, she hId the problem from everyone 13 Upon cross-exammatIon, Ms. Dixon agreed that she never asked to be transferred. She reIterated /' her pnor testImony that the other two managers were so bad that Ms. McNab was the better of the three She SaId that she had to beg one of the other supervIsors for somethmg to do when she was under hIS supervISIon. She saId that she wanted to work, to do the Job Ms DIxon also Said that there were thIngs that Ms. McNab dId that were really nght, but other tunes, Ms McNab was "off the wall" Ms. Young Re Ms. Dixon, Sept '90-Feb. '92 Ms. Young categorIcally denied that Ms. DIxon ever dIscussed Ene Banford WIth her She InsIsted that she did not know that Ms. McNab made abusIve remarks to Mr Banford and other employees She SaId that she dId not recall Ms. McNab ever domg so In her presence In the hallway Ms. Young also testtfied that Ms. DIxon complamed to her about bemg IITltated by Ms. McNab She Said that from the outset, both Ms. McNab and Ms. DIxon had problems WIth each other Ms. McNab had observed that due to Ms DIxon's background as a reSIdentIal counselor, she was good at guagmg emotIOnal reqUIrements and reactmg to them. Ms. McNab, however, was trymg to teach her to get the chents to do the Job themselves. When Ms. DIxon complaIned, she asked her to try It for one more month, and Ms. DIxon agreed. She then talked to Ms. McNab and told her what Ms. DIxon's concerns were She asked Ms McNab to gIve Ms DIxon one more month. 14 / One month later, Ms. Young said, Ms. DIxon came back to her and saId that she stIll was not really happy but thmgs were gettmg a bIt better She asked Ms. DIxon to try one more month and she agreed. Then, two weeks later, Ms. DIxon came to her and said that she was really glad that she had stuck It out. There would be no need to see her agam. Karen Brown Re Sept. '90-Feb. '92 Ms. Brown commenced employment at RIdeau 111 1973 ImtIally, she was a resIdential counselor; however, on March 27,1986, Ms. Brown became a case worker 111 the Social Work Department. At the tlme she testIfied, Ms. Brown had her MRC course, whIch, she saId, was the eqUlvalent of a college degree. She was an accredIted RehabIlItatIOn Worker and was in her thud year of a degree at the Umverslty of Ottawa m Interpersonal CommunIcatIOns. Ms. Brown came under the supervlSlon of Ms. McNab after Ms. Bowman was transferred out. Ms. Brown had been away from work smce early November, 1990, suffenng from a severe vlfal heart mfectIOn that left her heart permanently damaged. On March 1, 1991, Ms Brown's physICian certIfied her as fit to return to work on a half-tIme baSIS and on condItIOn that she not be placed under any stress. A doctor's certIficate contammg these restnctIOns was supplIed to the employer Ms. Brown testIfied that upon her return to work, she gave copIes of It to both Ms Young and Ms. McNab 15 DespIte havmg some reservatIOns, Ms. Brown asked to be placed under the superVIsIOn of Ms .,/ McNab It wIll be recalled that she had worked for Ms McNab before the latter left to become Ms. Turner's executIve assIstant In 1986 Ms Brown knew that Ms McNab was qUite knowledgeable m the field of SOCial work and felt that she could learn a great deal under her duectIOn. Ms. Brown testIfied that she soon came to regret thIS decIsIOn. It seems that despIte Ms Brown's medIcal restnctIOns, Ms. McNab InSIsted upon gIvmg her a full case load. As a result, she soon became unable to leave work after puttmg m a half-day Ms. McNab also made a practIce of callmg her at home at all hours to ask about varIOUS cases. On AprIl 25, 1991, Ms. Brown went to Ms. Young. She met with her m confidence m her office Ms. Young assured her that theIr conversatIOn would not leave the room. Accordmg to Ms Brown, she explamed that Ms. McNab was not livmg up to the restrIctIOns m the doctors note She was placmg Ms. Brown under stress twenty-four hours a day She expected her to carry a full case load and would call her at home WIth questIOns on clIents or to complain about Ms. Brown's WrItten work. Ms Brown also told Ms. Young that she was extremely mtImIdated by Ms. McNab Ms. McNab told her on a daily baSIS how stupId she was and questIOned when she would get anythmg mto her head. She told Ms Brown that she was lucky to work for her because no one else would have her She tore Ms Brown's reports apart and took away so much of her pnde that she qUit her 16 university courses, even though she was an "A+" student. ./ Ms Brown went mto detaIl about how derogatory Ms. McNab was and how she did not apprecIate Ms. McNab screammg at her from the end of the hall about how Incompetent she \vas. On one occaSiOn, she told Ms. Young, Ms McNab threw an ash tray at her Accordmg to Ms. Brown, Ms. McNab would come mto your office, slam the door, yell at you and put her finger nght mto your face She would yell at Ms Brown m the mam hall and even m the coffee room. There were times, Ms. Brown said, when Ms Young was m the coffee room when Ms. McNab called her or some other employee mcompetent or worse. Ms Brown said she asked Ms Young for a transfer because she could not handle the stress and abuse Ms. Young rephed that there was no way that Ms. Brown could be moved to another supervisor The case aSSignments were written m stone. Ms. Young assured her, however, that she would do what she could about cuttmg her case load m half, and she would look mto the other problems that Ms Brown had described. Ms Brown returned to her office. No more than thirt\ minutes later, Ms. Brown said, Ms McNab came screammg down the hall for her She entered Ms. Brown's office and slammed the door She put her face m Ms. Brown s face and yelled at her that if she ever went over her head agam, she would live to regret It. Ms. McNab then repeated verbatIm what Ms. Brown had told Ms Young 17 Ms McNab scolded her for embarrass10g her and mak10g her look stupId. She saId that she knew .;/ people and could have her fired. Then, most chIlhngly, Ms. McNab warned, "Remember, I know where you hve!" From then on, Ms Brown said, th10gs got worse. She paId for her transgressIon. The black marks on her work became worse She was not allowed to call the famIlIes of clIents WIthout permIssIOn. She could not move WIthout permIssIOn, Ms. McNab had to know where she was every m10ute of the day The derogatory comments got worse Ms. McNab would say to others m Ms Brown's presence, "Watch It, she's a rat. She'll tell on you!" Ms. Brown's case load rema10ed the same. Ms. McNab cont1Oued to harass her at home, even at two or three In the morn1Og. One mght, Ms. Brown Said, Ms. McNab went on for five mInutes because she dId not put a perIod at the end of a sentence Ms. Brown Said It got harder and harder every day You learned the hard way, she remarked, when you crossed Ms. McNab There was no evidence at all that Ms. Young had done anyth10g to help About two months later, whIch lIkely was In July, 1991, a posting went up for a contract posItIon workmg for another superVIsor 10 the department, Mr Bob Martel. Ms. Brown Said she asked Mr Martel for the posItlon so that she could get out from under Ms. McNab for awhIle In .the course of thIS dIscussIOn, she told Mr Martel about Ms McNab's abUSIve behavIOr Mr Martel saId that he would dISCUSS It WIth Ms. Young The next day, he called Ms. Brown and told her that he got raked over the coals for suggestmg tak10g on Ms. Brown. The answer was no 18 V Soon after that, Ms. McNab came mto Ms. Brown's office She yelled at Ms Brown for trymg to have Mr Martel fight her battles for her She saId that If Ms Brown wanted to get away from her supervIsion she was supposed to ask her Ms Brown then replIed that she dId want to get away Ms McNab Just laughed. I I ! i ! StIll later , m about the fall of 1991, another postmg went up for another contract posItIOn. Ms. , i ! Brown saId that once agam, she went to Mr Martel. He saId no, that the questIOn was not open , for diSCUSSIOn. That ended the matter Ms. Brown dId not pursue the matter any further Then, Ms. Brown saId, a couple of weeks later another postmg came up for a thIrd contract pOSItIOn. Once agam, she went m to see Mr Martel and once agam, Mr Martel Said no ThIS tIme, Ms. Brown saId, she pleaded WIth hIm that she had to get away from Ms. McNab He replIed that he would not put hImself through that agam WIth Ms. Young and that Ms. Brown would Just have to stay WIth Ms McNab, no matter what. At that pomt, Ms Brown saId, she felt that she had nothmg to lose She went to Ms Young and told her that she had been to see Bob Martel and he was not wIllmg to dISCUSS the Issue She tned to explam to Ms. Young that it was too difficult to work under Ms McNab any longer Her abuse and controlling behaVIOr were gettmg worse She would not allow the case workers who were assigned to her to talk to other case workers WIthout permIssIon. To hIghlIght thIS pomt, Ms Brown noted that after her second ViSIt to Mr Martel, she was told by Ms McNab that she was 19 never to go to him WIthout her pernllsslon. According to Ms. Brown, Ms. Young replIed that If /" Mr Martel said that the matter was not open for discussion, it was not. Ms Young then told Ms. McNab about Ms Brown's VISIt. Soon after that, Ms McNab came to see Ms. Brown. Accordmg to Ms Brown, she SaId, "DId I not warn you about gomg over my head?" She yelled at Ms Brown that her pnonty was not the clIents and so she could not be a profeSSIOnal She SaId, "Karen, you are only here because I agreed to have you work for me and I can stIll arrange for you to go out the door" Then Ms. McNab added, "Remember, the thIrd time is a strike out!" WhIle all of thIS was gomg on, Ms. Brown SaId, she was a umon steward, yet she never gneved. She SaId that she was not wIllmg to take steps to "slay the mIghty dragon" She knew that she would get no support from Ms. Young or Mr Martel. Ms. Young and Ms McNab seemed mseparable Accordmg to Ms. Brown, her self-esteem was so broken down that she dIdn't have It m her to fight by herself Upon cross-exammatIOn, Ms. Brown SaId that she dId not go anywhere to complam because she feared for her lIfe The prohibItIOn of repnsals agamst gnevors would have meant nothmg to someone lIke Ms McNab The people m her department were "scared SIlly of her No one would take Ms McNab on alone She SaId that as a umon steward she had adVIsed a number of employees, mcludmg Ene Banford and herself, that they had more than enough grounds to gneve agamst Ms McNab If anyone had come to her to file a gnevance agamst Ms McNab, however 20 she would have referred the employee to another union steward. 0/ Ms. Young Re Ms. Brown, Sept. '90-Feb. '92 Ms Young testIfied that m the spnng of 1991 about two weeks after Ms Brown returned to work, she came to see her to ask her to get Ms. McNab "off her back" Ms. Brown told Ms Young that her doctor had restncted her to carrymg a half load of cases and mstead, Ms. McNab mSIsted upon gIvmg her a full load. Ms Young acknowledged that she knew of the doctor's note but was not aware that Ms. Brown suffered from a senous heart ailment nor that she had been restncted to half days. Accordmg to Ms. Young, after that, she sat down with Ms. McNab and dIscussed the matter wIth her She asked Ms. McNab If she was gIvmg Ms. Brown a half day's work as requIred by her restnctIOn. Ms. McNab hesItated. Then she agreed to reView the case load that she had gIven to Ms Brown. After that, Ms Young saId, Ms. Brown never came back to her When they chatted casually wIth each other she always seemed chIpper and cheerful. She never gave Ms. Young the ImpreSSIOn that she had any problem at all. Upon cross-exammatIOn, Ms Young sald that m her meetmg wIth Ms. Brown, the latter was not crymg She was angry When asked whether Ms. Brown gave her a full descnptIOn of her ~- 21 complamts agamst Ms. McNab, Ms. Young rephed that as far as she could recall, all that Ms. Brown said was that she was supposed to be on half days and Ms. McNab was gIvmg her a full day's work. Counsel for the umon then put to Ms. Young the abuses that Ms. Brown said she had descnbed to her Ms. Young demed that Ms. Brown ever told her about Ms McNab's throwmg an ash tray at her She demed bemg told that Ms. McNab was very derogatory to Ms. Brown m her remarks. She demed that Ms. Brown told her that Ms. McNab yelled and screamed at her, tellmg her she was mcompetent. She denied that Ms. Brown told her that she felt extremely intimIdated by Ms. McNab and that she could not handle the stress. All Ms. Brown wanted, Ms. Young said, was a reasonable case load whIle she was on half days, and if Ms. McNab was not prepared to do that, she wanted a dIfferent supervIsor As counsel continued along this hne, Ms. Young demed that Ms. Brown said anythmg to her about speakmg to her m confidence. She denied that Ms. Brown told her that Ms. McNab phoned her at home at all hours. She demed that she knew anything about Ms. Brown's havmg requested to be transferred to contract posItIOns WIth Mr Martel. She also demed that she had more than one meetmg wIth Ms. Brown. At this pomt in the cross-exammatIOn, Ms Young repeated her preVIOUS testImony that whenever she saw Ms. Brown casually, she seemed cheerful. Doug Ferrier Re Sept. '90-Feb. '92 22 Mr Ferner was supervIsed by Ms. McNab from June, 1991 to December, 1991 He had been / employed at RIdeau for twenty-five years. Initially, he was an aSSIstant supervIsor m ReSIdential Services EIght years ago, he said, he became a case worker m the SocIal Work Department. He occupied the pOSItiOn of a SocIal Worker 1 (AtypIcal) a non-degreed positiOn. He gamed his knowledge through expenence on the Job Mr Ferner testIfied that Just pnor to bemg assIgned to Ms. McNab, he went to Ms. Young. He asked to speak to her m confidence. When she agreed, he told her that he dId not want to be supervIsed by Ms. McNab because of her management style. At thIS time, he saId, he dId not gIve Ms. Young many detalls about what he meant by "management style" Ms. Young rejected hIS request and asked hIm to gIve workmg for Ms. McNab a try Mr Ferner said that he felt that he had no optIOn but to accept. A couple of days later, Mr Ferner saId, Ms. McNab asked hIm to go outsIde for a CIgarette WIth her He dId so When they were outsIde, she confronted hIm WIth statements that he'd made to Ms Young. She kept pressmg Mr Ferner to define what he meant by "management style" Mr Ferner Said that he made several attempts to gIve her some semblance of a defimtiOn, but she was not satIsfied. She kept repeatmg her request. Workmg for Ms McNab, Mr Ferner Said, was a "pretty hornfic expenence", to put It mlldly It was somethmg out of a horror mOVIe There was no one to ask for help or aSSIstance The group was effectively Isolated. He and the others who were assIgned to Ms McNab were forbIdden to 23 approach any other supervIsor Ms. McNab sternly told them thIS, he saId. Ms. McNab also /' forbade them to go to Kathy Young. Referrmg to an mvestlgatlve report that was produced after Ms. McNab had been relIeved of her dutIes, Mr Femer testIfied that Ms. McNab dIrected condescendmg and uncomplImentary remarks at hIm m front of others. She referred to hIm as Doug "FaIrY", called hIm "Bozo", dIrected hIm to "use your head", and questIOned, "what IS wrong WIth your head?", "where IS your thmkmg?" Ms. McNab, Mr Ferrier mdicated, also constantly graded and edited hIS wrItten work. After makmg hIm rewrIte the same correspondence several tImes, Ms. McNab never seemed satIsfied. She referred to Mr Ferner's written work as "tragic" Accordmg to Mr Ferner, thIS resulted m hIS losmg self-respect and questiomng hIS writmg abilItIes and capabIlItIes. In frequent superVISOry seSSIOns, Ms. McNab mtImIdated Mr Ferner by shakmg her finger or sheets of paper m hIS face In one supervISOry seSSIOn, Ms McNab told Mr Ferner to "yell and scream at [her] lIke 1 do to you", and proceeded to mImIC hIm by answenng to herself, 'I don't know' I don't know" When he was asked about the effect of thIS upon him, Mr Femer SaId that for the first tIme m hIS lIfe, he had to seek medIcal attentIOn from hIS famIly doctor for dIfficulty m sleepmg, anXIety and so on. His famIly doctor placed hIm upon medIcatIOn. He found It very dIfficult to functlOn 24 under the stress created by Ms. McNab It became a questIOn of Just trymg to surVIve In ../ December, 1991, an opportumty arose to sWItch supervIsors and he took It. Ms. Young Re Mr Ferrier, Sept. '90-Feb. '92 Ms Young confirmed that m June, 1991, Mr Ferner told her that he dId not want to work for Ms McNab because he dId not like her management style She said that he refused to be more specIfic than that. At that time, she could not accomodate hIS request because she dId not have a trade-off posItion and dId not want to make changes too qUickly because they upset resIdents and famIlIes. As Ms Young recalled, however, Mr Ferner dId not transfer to another superVIsor untIl February, 1992. ThIs was when the gnevor, Ms. LaframbOise, asked to be supervIsed by Ms. McNab upon her return to work from maternity leave Ms. Young then asked Mr Ferner Ifhe was stIll mterested m transfernng out and he saId yes. It was then that the transfer occurred. Pnor to thIS, Ms. Young said, Mr Ferner never said anythmg to her to about his treatment by Ms McNab She and Mr Ferner talked while smokmg outsIde the bUIldmg about many thmgs, she said, but never dIscussed Ms. McNab Upon cross-exammatIOn, Ms. Young acknowledged that by June, 1991, when Mr Ferner told her that he dId not want to be supervIsed by Ms. McNab, she had heard from three other 25 employees that they also wanted out Martha Bowman (Fall, 1990), SheIla DIxon (Fall, 1990) .# and, Karen Brown (Spnng, 1991) When asked whether thIS mdIcated to her that somethmg mIght be amISS WIth Ms. McNab's superVlSlon, she responded that she had no reason to beheve on the baSIS of the behavlOr of these employees that they were unhappv E1aboratmg upon thIS, she saId that after Ms. DIxon SaId that she wanted out, she reversed herself and told her that she was happy Karen Brown, she saId, was only unhappy about one thmg, the aSSIgnment of a full case load rather than a half case load. Mr Ferner would not gIve her any detaIls as to why he dId not lIke Ms. McNab's management style. Ms. Young agreed that her only response to the complamts of the above employees was to transfer out Ms. Bowman and Mr Ferner, and to tell Ms. McNab to reduce Ms. Brown's case load. She agreed that the abuse that Ms. McNab gave to the employees under her supervlSlon took place under her nose and she knew nothmg about It. Ms Young also agreed that she had the responslblhty to control the behavlOr of a supervIsor under her dIrectIOn. She pomted out, however, that supervisors who chose to do what they were not supposed to dId not do these thmgs m front of theIr managers. She then reIterated that Ms McNab dId not abuse employees m front of her or other managers. (3) March, 1992 to February, 1993 26 Sharon Laframboise (The Grievor) Re March '92-Feb. '93 ./ In March, 1992 the grievor, Ms. Sharon LaframbOise, returned to work at RIdeau followmg a matermty leave Ms. LaframbOIse was a formally tramed socIal worker She had both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor ofSoclal Work degree from the UmversIty of Mamtoba. The SocIal Work degree was receIved m 1983 Followmg graduatIOn, the gnevor was employed for three years as a socIal worker m the Farmly and ChIldren's ServIces satellIte office in Red Lake. Three letters ofrecommendatlOn that were entered mto eVIdence mdicated that the gnevor was a valued SOCIal worker The gnevor testIfied that at the end of thIS perIod, she conSIdered herself to have had a good deal of SOCIal work tramIng and expenence In 1986, the gnevor and her husband moved to Ottawa and In September, 1986, the gnevor was hIred as a SOCIal worker m the SOCIal Work Department at RIdeau. By thIS tIme, Ms McNab had left the department to become the executive aSSIstant to the AdmInIstrator of RIdeau, Ms. Wynn Turner The gnevor was assIgned to work under the dIrectIOn of other supervIsors,mc1udmg Mr Martel. WhIle at RIdeau, the gnevor had two maternIty leaves the first, from the fall of 1989 to May, 1990 and the second, from September, 1991 to March, 1992 Upon her return m March, the gnevor requested to be assIgned to Ms. McNab 27 Some mIght say that thIS was a "gutsy" move by the gnevor She knew that Ms. McNab was a tough superVisor who placed her case workers under stress, although she could not have been aware of the degree of stress expenenced by those who testlfied. The gnevor was predIsposed toward expenencmg pamc and anxIety attacks, and had receIVed psychIatnc assIstance to help control them smce she had been a chIld. In fact, dunng each of her maternity leaves, the gnevor had consulted a psychIatnst, Dr ThehIJa, for two months to help her deal wIth her pamc and anxIety about returnmg to work. The gnevor testlfied that at the tlme she requested to work for Ms. McNab, she was confident of her abihty to handle a normal amount of stress From her own experience over the years, she had learned to use to several dIfferent techniques to control attacks other than "full blown" pamc attacks, and she had only expenenced two full blown pamc attacks m twenty years -- one when she was m Grade 8 and one when she was at Kenora. The gnevor noted that she had been able to excel m school, umversIty, her famIly hfe and her career despite thiS predispOSitlon. Her colleagues at RIdeau would not have perceIved that she had thIS problem and she did not share It WIth them. Accordmg to the gnevor, she requested to work with McNab because she understood her to be a hIghly skilled supervIsor who was very competent, very mtelhgent, and good at what she dId. Ms McNab was reputed to be supportlve of her staff and expected m return an adequate performance The gnevor was contemplatmg studymg for a Master's degree m SOCial work, and 28 thought that she could develop further socIal work skIlls through workmg for Ms. McNab /' As to Ms. McNab's tough managenal style, the gnevor said that she had been told that If she "produced" for her, she would be alnght. She also had been told that If you stood up to her, she would back off NeIther of these mSIghts proved to be correct. The gnevor Said that almost ImmedIately after gomg to work for Ms. McNab, she began to expenence pamc attacks that she found more and more dIfficult to control Her sense of fear and dread mcreased. She felt heart palpItatIOns and other symptoms on an almost daIly basIs. Fmally, m Apnl, 1992, about one month after she began workmg for Ms. McNab, the grievor suffered her thIrd full blown panic attack. The gnevor described a full blown panIC attack as one that brought on difficulty in breathmg, dIzzmess, a sense of unrealIty, and unbelIevable fear She Said that when thIS attack occurred, she could not concentrate and could not breathe She felt like dymg. Her heart was poundmg and she couldn t thmk of anythmg else. The attack lasted for about one mmute On Apn127, 1992, the gnevor went to see Dr RanJIth Chandrasena, a psychIatnst m Ottawa. She hoped that he could help her control her panIC attacks. Dr Chandrasena treated her WIth Prozac and RIvotnl, and also gave her ongomg psychotherapy together WIth behavIor modIficatIOn. ImtIally, there was a complete cessatIOn ofpame symptoms but later they returned and fluctuated accordmg to the stresses she felt under Ms. McNab s superVISIon. 29 /" StIll, untIl early June, 1992, the grIevor publIcly expressed enthusIasm for Ms. McNab's tough managenal style For example, on June 2, 1992, the gnevor Joined wIth other case workers who worked or used to work for Mr Martel m a detailed complamt about Mr Martel's allegedly weak managenal skills and abIlIties. In a meetmg between these employees and Ms Young to dISCUSS thIS complamt, the gnevor remarked that now that she was wIth Ms. McNab, she knew what good supervlSlon was When asked about this upon cross-exammatIOn, the gnevor saId that at the tIme, she stIll thought that Ms. McNab was a good supervIsor Also, she saId, she dId everythmg m her power to hIde from her colleagues the abuse she got from Ms. McNab It embarrassed her All of Ms. McNab's abuse, she Said, took place behmd closed doors. Referring to a letter of complaint that she sent to Ms. Wynn Turner on October 4, 1993, the gnever gave examples of some of the abUSIve things that Ms. McNab dId. A number of them are revIewed herembelow' Accordmg to the gnevor, Ms. McNab started to make attacks upon her professIOnal competence soon after she arnved. Usually, thIS was m the gUIse of edItmg the gnevor s notes The gnevor was told that she couldn't wnte ThIS wore away at her self confidence m her abIlIty to do the Job 30 For example, the gnevor said, Just after she started workIng for Ms. McNab, the latter dIrected f./ her to wnte a letter When the gnevor took the letter In to her, Ms. McNab was rude and verbally r' i battered her She told the gnevor that her "Re" hne was Improper She stood III front of the gnevor and agressIvely started to demean her She dIrected stacatto questIOns at the gnevor f gIvmg her no tIme to answer She had the gnevor spend two hours rewntmg the letter and then , she dId It herself. Throughout, Ms. McNab was aware that the gnevor had an appoIntment m KIngston at 1 30 p.m. Somehow, Ms. McNab took offense at the way In WhICh the grievor left her office after all of thIS Ms. McNab burst Into the gnevor's office and warned, "Don't you ever walk out on me agaIn!" Then, when Ms. McNab saw that the grievor had begun to cry, she saId that she was sorry, that she was sick. She got down onto her knees and begged the gnevor's forgIveness. As she was domg thIS, Ms. McNab was uttenng words to the effect of, "Don't worry, you belong to me, I'm gomg to take care of you." She placed her hands on the gnevor's shoulders and In her lap The gnevor Said that thIS made her feel SIck mSIde She cned all the way to KIngston. That evenmg, Ms. McNab tned to call the gnevor at her home two or three tImes The gnevor had her husband take the calls. The next day, Ms. McNab gave her an edIted copy of the letter and went on as If nothIng had happened. Whenever the gnevor asked Ms McNab where she could Improve and suggested that she do a performance appraisal so that the gnevor could use It as a gUIde, Ms McNab gave no response ,......,....----~ 31 She referred to the gnevor as a "doormat" for the ward staff. She chIded the gnevor for not bemg / able to do her Job wIthout consultmg with other people Then, Ifthe gnevor tned to consult wIth other mvolved professIOnals, she was accused of not domg her Job ThIS contmued, the gnevor said, throughout her tIme under Ms. McNab's supervISIOn. The gnevor saId that Ms. McNab engaged m paranOId behaVIOr She conSidered all those who disagreed with her as havmg made a personal attack upon her She called them evIl, m<;ompetent and stupid. Accordmg to the gnevor, Ms. McNab's use ofthe word "evIl" to describe these people really set her back. These descriptIOns would be accompamed by gestures and a loud VOIce. There were times, the gnevor saId, when she felt that Ms. McNab had become totally Irrational and she was very afraId of her For example, the gnevor said, Ms. McNab became very agItated and upset whenever she talked about Sheila Dixon. She Said that Ms. DIxon was eVIl, a trouble maker, and would stab you m the back. She told the grievor to watch out for Ms. DIxon. Ms. McNab also referred to Dr McCreary, the consultmg psychiatnst at Rideau, as eVil. She told the gnevor also to watch out for him. To get even WIth the people she had targeted, the gnevor said, Ms. McNab would try to mampulate the gnevor's case work to dIsparage them m some way If the gnevor refused to comply, Ms. McNab would browbeat and harangue her sometimes for hours, m a loud, forceful VOIce ,...,..------- 32 The gnevor gave as an example ofthis an instance Involving a memo the gnevor was supposed ~/ to wrIte to one of Ms. McNab's targets, Dr Irene SWIft. After the gnevor wrote the memo, Ms i [ i , McNab took It and made Its aggressIve and confrontatIOnal Then she told the gnevor to send It. , ; She also expressl) forbade the gnevor from callmg Dr SWIft. Even though the memo was out of character for her, the gnevor saId, she was scared not to send the memo She had been verbally abused for hours for refusmg to do thmgs that she belIeved were mappropnate SometImes, the gnevor SaId, she hId some of the memos rather than send them. She could not look the people to whom they were addressed m the eye. She felt like she could not hold her head up among her colleagues. As It was, the gnevor SaId, Ms. McNab dId her best to Isolate her case workers from those who reported to other supervIsors. Sometimes, she momtored the gnevor's telephone calls and was deliberately rude to callers from outSIde her group On one such occaSIon, the gnevor was about to complIment an outSIde SOCIal worker, Wilma Prmce-Cutler, upon her abIlItIes Ms McNab pIcked up the phone and told her not to waste the gnevor's tIme Because Ms Pnnce-Cutler dId not understand what was happemng, she blamed the gnevor for Ms. McNab S rudeness and theIr relatIOnshIp was damaged. Many colleagues began to aVOId contact WIth the gnevor for fear of encountenng Ms McNab On another occaSIOn, the gnevor saId, when Ms. McNab thought that she had caught her talkmg to one of her targets, SheIla DIxon, she confronted the gnevor and accused her oftrymg to gIve 33 Ms DIxon ammumtIon against her as a supervIsor When the grievor denied the accusatIOn, Ms. -/. McNab called her a har and harangued her for hours at a time. These harangues served as effectIve deterrents. When Ms. McNab started mto these harangues, the gnevor saId, she's Just keep at It and keep at It. She would barge Into to the gnevor's office It dIdn't matter what the gnevor was domg, who she was wIth, or whether she was on the phone. Then Ms. McNab would pepper her wIth abuse and rapId-fire questIOns, such as where IS thIS, where IS that, wIth no tIme for response. The gnevor saId that she felt that Ms. McNab was trYIng to kIck her around and use her as a punchIng bag. Her nerves, she saId, were shot. As a result, she tned to aVOId dOIng anythIng that she knew would InVIte another harangue, IncludIng talkIng to outsIders Ms. McNab also Isolated the gnevor from meetIngs wIth staff who were not under her supervIsIOn. The gnevor saId that she could not attend meetIngs. If she scheduled any meetIngs, Ms. McNab would cancel them and tell the others that the gnevor could not come. As the gnevor SaId m her testImony "I was cut off from a lot of people by Ms McNab" Ms.Young Re the Grievor, March '92-Feb. '93 Ms Young testIfied that she antIcIpated that the gnevor would be shocked when she first came under Ms McNab's supervIsIOn, however, the gnevor never came to her wIth any problem. She recounted that In the meetIng In June, 1992, that was held to aIr the complamts about Mr Martel, f i ~ 34 she took note of a remark by the gnevor that now that she worked for Ms. McNab she knew what ,;' good supervlSlon was, and she never wanted to go back under the supervlSlon of Mr Martel Ms. i Young SaId that she was delIghted. Ms. Young also testified that when she had conversatIOns wIth Ms McNab, the latter seemed qUlte content wIth the gnevor as one of her case workers Sheila Dixon Re the Grievor, March '92-Feb'93 I. Ms. DIxon contmued to work for Ms. McNab until September, 1992 She and the gnevor were supervIsed by Ms. McNab at the same time for about seven months. Ms. DIxon Said that she and the gnevor were friends but they rarely dIscussed Ms. McNab's horrible behavIOr The gnevor, she saId, was really afraId of Ms. McNab and could not talk about It. That concerned her and she tned to talk to the gnevor, but she Just wouldn't open up Karen Brown Re the Grievor, March '92-Feb. '93 Ms. Brown remamed under the supervlSlon of Ms. McNab until some tIme m 1993 When the gnevor commenced workmg for Ms. McNab, she Said, she got the ImpreSSIOn that the gnevor thought that she, Ms. Brown, was the problem, and not Ms. McNab In the months that followed, they dId not talk WIth each other She thought that the gnevor dId not know until later what she and the others who worked for Ms. McNab were gomg through. Ms. Brown VIVidly remembered the remark that the gnevor made dunng the June, 1992 meetmg 35 mvolvmg the complamt agamst Mr Martel. She testIfied that when the gnevor said that now that ,/ she was workmg for Ms. McNab she knew what good supervIsion was, she was shocked. Her reactIOn was to thmk, "Just walt!" Ms. McNab, she saId, could buIld you up to make you thmk that you were the "be all and end all", and then kick everythmg out from under you. Accordmg to Ms Brown, she dId thIS repeatedly When asked upon cross-exammatIOn why the case workers m the department had enough nerve to complam about Mr Martel but never complained about Ms. McNab, Ms. Brown replIed that they were not afraId ofMr Martel. She saId that Ms. McNab had them so afraId of her that they were afraId for theIr lives and theIr chIldren. At thIS pomt m her testImony, Ms. Brown became qUIte emotIOnal. Dr Ranjith Chandrasena Re the Grievor, March, '92-Feb. '93 Dr Chandrasena testIfied that when the gnevor first came to hIm on Apnl 27, 1992, he noted that she had been m panIC dIsorder and clImcal depreSSIOn for a penod of a year and a half. He learned thIS from a hIstory that he took on the first VISIt, notmg that the gnevor had seen Dr TahIJa a year and a halfpnor to thIS because of these symptoms In lIght of the pnor dIagnOSIS and symptoms, he Said, he put her on medIcatIon to control her anXIety and pamc symptoms On these, he saId, she dId qUIte well m the workplace As time went on, he saId, the gnevor's acute symptoms became more promment. There was a 36 clear assocIation between this worsening and the stresses at work. The clmical symptoms that the -/ gnevor descnbed as well as those he observed led hIm to thIS conclusIOn. Dr Chandrasena saId that It was very Important to note that pnor to thIS, the gnevor could lead a reasonable qualIty of lIfe Then, when the sIgmficant stress occured, the symptoms of her Illness got exacerbated. One of the symptoms of her illness was a recurrence of an eatmg dIsorder Her Illness was caused by a chemIcal Imbalance m the bram. With mcreased stress, the chemIcal Imbalance worsened, causmg a worsenmg of her clImcal depreSSIOn and Its assocIated symptoms. Upon cross-exammatIOn, counsel for the Mimstry drew upon the hIstOry of the gnevor to probe whether It was possible that her problems were not attributable to her treatment by her supervIsor, but to her pre-exlstmg condItIOn. He noted that at the time of the grievor's return to work, she had longstandmg problems WIth panIC and anXIety, eatmg dIsorders, chmcal depreSSIOn, low self esteem, trouble relatmg to her mother and her siblIngs, and, preVIOUS pamc attacks m other workplaces. Counsel also noted that the gnevor was returnmg to work from a maternIty leave and at that pomt, had three chIldren under three years of age Moreover, he noted, at the tIme of the grievor's return, the workplace was undergomg a reorgamzatIOn.These factors, he suggested, were the most lIkely cause of the gnevor's problems Dr Chandrasena replIed that thIS was pOSSIble but not lIkely He Said that It was Important to recogmze that the gnevor had coped well m very stressful Jobs before She had good 37 performance evaluations even at Rideau and a faIrly good quahty of hfe m spIte of her pre- - eXlstmg problems The tngger, Dr Chandrasena said, was somethmg else He IdentIfied that tngger as Ms. McNab He said that the sequence of events, the chronology and the nature of the symptoms led hIm to thIS concluslOn. (4) March, 1993 to October 7,1993 Sharon Laframboise, the Grievor, March '93-0ct. '93 The gnevor testIfied that Ms. McNab's attacks upon her profeSSIonal competence, paranoId behavlOr, mampulatlOn of the gnevor's case work to promote her personal vendettas, controlhng and Isolatmg tactIcs, and abUSIve harangues contmued virtually unabated untIl October 4, 1993 when the gnevor could not take It anymore and filed a formal complamt WIth Ms. Turner Numerous examples of the perSIstence of this kmd ofbehavlOr were gIVen m eVIdence, however, It does not seem necessary for purposes of thIS award to reVIew all ofthem m detail. It suffices to say that, as the gnevor mdIcated upon cross-exammatlOn, these negatIve encounters WIth Ms. McNab had a cumulatIve effect upon her She took the abuse untIl she felt that she had no chOIce but to file her complamt WIth Ms. Turner 38 It seems worthwhile notmg, however, that by March, 1993, Ms. McNab was aware that the /' grIevor was m depressIOn and seemg a psychIatrIst. By thIS tIme, the grIevor said, her depressIOn had gotten so severe that she could not concentrate and crIed all the tIme One day that month, Ms. McNab burst mto her office and accused her of "stealing" from the taxpayers because she was a "pathetic blob" and a "slacker" She said that when the gnevor got paid on pay day, her hands must shake She exclaimed that she dId not know what she was gomg to do with the gnevor because she had tned everythmg and was at her Wits' end. She threatened to speak to Ms. Young about her The gnevor became very upset and Said that she would go to Ms Young herself; however Ms. Young was on vacation at the time. According to the gnevor, she decIded to stand up for herself She told Ms. McNab to stop calling her names and abusmg her Ms. McNab became agItated and retorted, "Who have you been talkmg to?!" The gnevor then told her that she was m depressIOn and was seemg a psychIatnst. Ms. McNab responded that she dId not know that. It was not her fault. She seemed to become empathetIc. More Importantly, she backed off The gnevor saId that for a few days after that, thmgs changed for the better; however, wIthm a week Ms. McNab had gone nght back to her old pattern of abuse Thereafter, the gnevor began to seek at least temporary transfers away from Ms McNab Ms McNab reacted angnly to these attempts She repeatedly disparaged a Coordmator posItIOn to WhIch the gnevor successfully sought to be seconded m the penod Apnl12 to May 7, 1993, creatmg a great deal of stress and anxiety m the gnevor The dIsparagement contmued after Ms 39 LaframboIse returned to her supervISIOn. Ms. McNab also began makmg vengeful attacks m the /' gnevor's presence upon the character of Dr McCreary, wIth whom the gnevor had worked dUrIng her secondment. Then, m late June 1993, when Dr McCreary stated m a memo that he wIshed to mvolve the gnevor m another study, Ms. McNab reacted angnly and badgered and mtImIdated the gnevor mto declmmg any mvolvement. Accordmg to the gnevor, Ms. McNab resorted to a partIcularly crude method of mtImIdatlOn. She asked the gnevor If she wanted to partIcIpate m the study, and f when she dId not get the negatIve response that she wanted, she kept on repeatmg the questIOn m progreSSIvely louder and more forceful tones untIl she was sure that the gnevor had gotten the message. The gnevor said that the message was that If she dId not comply WIth Ms McNab's WIshes, she would affect her career and make her hfe mIserable Ultlmately, Ms McNab wrote for the grIevor's SIgnature a letter declmmg the pOSItion. The gnevor SIgned It under duress. It seems that the gnevor reached the breakmg pomt m early October, 1993, when she receIved a memo from Ms. McNab statmg that there was aJob commg up m another area at RIdeau and she was makmg thIS known to the gnevor and Ms. Jane Charles, another SOCial worker who was then under her superVISIOn. The gnevor wanted out, but Ms. McNab had made her pay dearly for her pnor attempts to get away from her supervlSlon. ThIS made applymg for the Job a major nsk. The grIevor thought that If she apphed -- thereby mdlCatmg mterest m leavmg Ms McNab's area-- but Ms. Charles got the Job, her hfe under Ms. McNab would become mtolerable The gnevor deCIded that smce her career seemed to be over no matter what she dId, she would wnte a -- - 40 detaIled letter of complamt agamst Ms McNab and send It to Ms. Turner On October 4, 1993, the gnevor gave her letter of complamt to the presIdent of the local umon, Mr Bons Kaczan. Mr Kaczan took the letter to Ms Turner On October 5 the gnevor and Mr Kaczan met wIth Ms. Turner m her office At the tIme, the gnevor was not sure of how her complamt would be regarded. She SaId that she felt like she was standmg alone agamst Ms McNab and that she would lose When Ms. Turner began to reVIew the allegatIOns in her complamt one by one, the grIevor snapped. It seemed to the grievor that Ms. Turner was bemg too dIspasSIOnate The gnevor screamed at her that she, Ms. Turner, knew what was happenmg, and that Ms. Turner shouldn't have let Ms McNab do that to her and her colleagues. Ms Turner replIed, "1 know what 1 know" She then suggested that the gnevor take a couple of days off It seemed to the gnevor that It was all over for her When Ms. Turner asked her to descnbe the worst thmg that she thought would happen If Ms. McNab found out about her letter of complamt, the gnevor responded that she felt that Ms. McNab would kIll her At that pomt, the gnevor SaId, she felt lIke she had Just Jumped off a bUIldmg The gnevor went back to her office and, for the first tIme told a few colleagues that she had filed a letter of complamt agamst Ms. McNab Ms. Young's secretary, Ms. Jean CraIg, SaId that she was scared for her, that the gnevor dIdn't know what she had done Fortunately, Ms McNab was 41 on vacatIOn at the tIme and as a result, the gnevor dId not have to be afraid of encountenng her /' She left for home The gnevor said that after two days had passed, she tned to return to work but found that she could not. She knew that MS.McNab was about to return from vacatIOn. She couldn't functIOn, couldn't thmk, became mIstrustful of management and cned all the tIme. She thought that she had lost everythmg and may even have become SUICIdal As a result, she went off on SIck leave. Dr Chandrasena Re the Grievor, March '93-0ct. '93 Dr Chandrasena testified that from the time the gnevor started therapy, she had IncreaSIng anXIety attacks. Durmg a therapy seSSIOns on June 1, 1993, he saId, he noted that the gnevor was findmg that the stress at work was makmg It harder and harder for her to cope On June 23, 1993, he noted In hIS notes that as part of hIS treatment plan, the gnevor should go off work. When asked upon cross-exammatIOn whether he recommended that the gnevor go off work because It was at that pomt that he became concerned about endangenng her health, Dr Chandrasena Said yes, however, he added that from a therapeutIc pomt of VIew he tned to keep hIS patIents at work as long as possIble ThIS was for self-esteem purposes and also to help them learn to use copmg strategIes. As to whether he viewed Ms. McNab's actIOns toward the gnevor as a copmg problem, Dr - _n 42 Chandrasena saId that he tried to gIve the gnevor coping mechanIsms In order to remain at work. /' If the sItuatIOn became very acute and he felt that the gnevor was In Immediate danger, he would have recommended that the gnevor go off work. Counsel for the employer then asked Dr Chandrasena whether he ever suggested that the gnevor speak to anyone In management about her problems wIth Ms. McNab Dr Chandrasena replIed that he thought that they had dIscussed thIS He added that thIS was more of an adminIstrative deCISIOn. SometImes, he said, complaining to hIgher management could make matters worse, He saId that he dId recall telling the gnevor to seek legal adVIce Wynn Turner, the Administrator at Rideau, Re March, '93-0ct. '93 Ms Turner testIfied that when Ms. McNab acted as her executIve aSSIstant from the time Ms. Turner first arrIved at RIdeau In September 1986 untIl February, 1988, she never had an OpportunIty to observe Ms McNab's behavIOr as a supervIsor At that time, Ms. McNab dId not have any employees who reported to her All that Ms Turner knew from her own expenence was that Ms. McNab was an efficIent and hIgh-energy employee It was common ground between the partIes that In the penod 1990-93, Ms Turner's offices were at the OppOSIte end of the complex from those occupIed by Ms Young, Ms McNab, and the case workers III the SOCIal Work Department. She dId not have any opportumty to observe first-hand ~._-- 43 the way in whIch Ms. McNab supervIsed the case workers who were assIgned to her /' In August, 1993, Ms Turner was sent a copy of a letter from Mr Bons Kaczan, V Ice PresIdent of the local umon, descnbIng abusIve conduct by Ms. McNab toward Mr Kaczan and a group of employees In the ReSIdent Records Department, over whIch Ms. Young had gIven Ms McNab supervIsory control In July, 1993 The letter, whIch dId not name Ms. McNab, read, In pertInent part: August 19, 1983 To Employee Health Re AdvIce concernIng the wellbeIng of an employee. I am wntIng to the Employee Health Office, as a Umon Steward, In hope of reCeIVIng directIOn m a matter that affects the wellbeing of a number of staff. I have recently expenenced quite a number of mappropnate behavIors of a manager deahng WIth staff, IncludIng myself. In my OpInIOn, thIS person seems to be under a great deal of stress. Examples of thIS manager's behaVIor Include, shoutIng at staff, abruptly changmg tOpICS In mld--sentence, unfounded accusatIOns, repeatedly askmg/demandIng answers and then cuttIng people off In mId--word and abrupt mood swings. The words hystencal rantIng and raVIng would fit my defimtIOn OfthIS person's behavior I wItnessed thIS type of behavIOr on two separate occaSIOns for pen ods lastIng up to 40 mInutes at a time I am concerned that thIS employee may create a SItuatIOn that cannot be resolved by the present methods of problem solVIng that eXIst at RIdeau RegIOnal Centre I do not thmk that It IS In the best Interests of thIS person or the people reportIng to thIS manager to contInue theIr current relatIOnshIp The letter descnbed the same pattern of abuse as that descnbed by the gnevor and other WItnesses. It went on to request gUIdance In protectIng employees from further abuse and 44 obtammg assistance to help Ms. McNab resolve her problems. /' Ms Turner did not actually receive thIS letter untIl September 1, 1993 From August 19 to September 1 she had been on vacatIon. Soon after she arrIved at the office, Mr Kaczan called her and requested her to read the letter and certam assocIated responses After she had time to do so, she met with Mr Kaczan m her office Because the letter did not Identify the manager, Ms. Turner asked who It was and Mr Kaczan rephed that It was Ms. McNab At the same tIme, Mr Kaczan brought to Ms. Turner's attention a gnevance that had been filed m July, 1993, after Ms. McNab had accused another employee ofbemg a thief. Ms. Turner said that thIS was the first time that she had heard of thiS particular gnevance Accordmg to Ms. Turner, she and Mr Kaczan thoroughly discussed the details of the allegatiOns agamst Ms. McNab She then told Mr Kaczan that he had raised some very senous allegatiOns. She adVIsed him that she wanted to ask Ms. Kathy Young, Ms. McNab's superVisor, to mvestIgate the allegatIons WIth hIm. Ms Turner saId that Immediately followmg thiS meetmg, she called Ms Young and asked her to come to her office When they met, Ms. Turner told Ms Young m detail about Mr Kaczan's ! allegatiOns agamst Ms. McNab Accordmg to Ms Turner, she did not show Ms. Young the letter from Mr Kaczan but told her what Mr Kaczan had Said m the letter about Ms. McNab s shoutmg at staff and engagmg m erratIc and hOrrIble behaVIOr She asked Ms Young to meet ! 45 with Mr Kaczan to dISCUSS dIrectly the allegatIOns about Ms. McNab's behavIOr 7' From September 1 untIl October 4, when Ms Turner receIved the gnevor's letter of complamt, Ms. Young dId not bother to meet wIth Mr Kaczan. Moreover, she never adVIsed Ms Turner of her machon. Ms Turner only found thIS out when she called Ms Young to tell her about the gnevor s complamt and m that conversatIOn, asked Ms. Young what had been the outcome of her meetmg WIth Mr Kaczan. When Ms. Young responded that they had not talked to each other, Ms Turner became exasperated. She told her that the Issues were Important and dIrected her m strong language to meet WIth hIm. As to the gnevor's letter of complamt, Ms. Turner testIfied that she receIved It on Monday mornmg, October 4 It was in a confidential envelope on top of her desk. She opened It and upon readmg It, became shocked and concerned. When the gnevor's allegatIOns were combmed WIth Mr Kaczan's allegatIOns about Ms McNab's abUSIve behaVIor m ReSIdent Records and the gnevance regardmg Ms. McNab's accusmg another employee of being a thIef, there now were senous charges agamst Ms. McNab from a number of separate sources Ms. Turner ImmedIately called Mr Kaczan and told hIm that she would very much lIke to meet WIth the gnevor Although the gnevor mdIcated that the met on the followmg day, Tuesday, October 5, Ms Turner recalled that Mr Kaczan arranged for them to meet on Monday afternoon. Ms Turner Said that the meetmg was very dIfficult for thc gnevor She told the gnevor that she wanted to go through the letter of complamt WIth her to get more details. She wanted her to know --- 46 that she was takmg It very seriously In mId--meetmg, however, the gnevor became angry and ./ cned. She said he had to leave, that she could not contmue She said she felt that she was havmg to JustIfy to Ms. Turner thmgs that she had put m wntmg The gnevor and Mr Kaczan left. Ms Turner SaId that she could not leave thmgs lIke that. She went after the gnevor, and when she caught up to her she tned to calm her down. The gnevor SaId that she thought that Ms. Turner dId not belIeve her, that no one would beheve her Refernng m her mmd to the complamt from ResIdent Records, Ms. Turner rephed, "you are not the only one" After that, the three of them returned to Ms. Turner's office They contmued to go through the complamt. At the end of the meetmg, the gnevor expressed to Ms. Turner her mcredible fear of Ms. McNab Ms. Turner asked her what she thought Ms. McNab would do to her The gnevor replIed that in her mmd's eye, she saw Ms. McNab commg down the hall WIth a gun to shoot hurts when she learned of the gnevor's complamt. At that tIme, Ms. Turner saId, Ms. McNab was on vacatIOn. She was to return on Thursday, October 7 Ms. Turner told the gnevor that she would make every effort to ensure her protectIOn. Accordmg to Ms Turner, the gnevor's complamt took up most of the rest of her week. She spoke to Ms Young, and met WIth her on the mormng of Tuesday October 5 She told Ms Young to get m touch WIth Ms. McNab and ask her to report dIrectly to Ms Turner's office the first thmg on Thursday, October 7 47 On Thursday, October 7, Ms. Turner met with Ms. McNab in the presence of Ms. Young. Ms. ....... McNab had not been made aware of the ResIdent Records complamt. Ms. Turner told her that there were two complaints that Ms Young needed to talk to her about. She also raised with Ms. McNab the gnevance relatmg to her callmg another employee a har Apparently, Ms. Turner had learned that m settlement of that gnevance, Ms McNab was supposed to have wntten a letter of apology pnor to leavmg for vacatIOn, but had failed to do so Ms. Turner told Ms. McNab that the employer needed to get her sIde of the story and that Ms. Young would do that, not Ms. Turner The only detaIls she mentIOned to Ms. McNab were that the complaints were alleging that she was verbally abusmg and harassmg her employees. DiscIphnary actIOn, she adVIsed Ms. McNab, mIght well follow Ms. McNab and Ms. Young then left Ms Turner's office When Ms. McNab returned to Ms. Turner's office after being bnefed by Ms. Young, they dIscussed what could have caused her to behave m thIS fashIOn. Ms McNab admItted that her behaVIOr m ReSIdent Records was mappropnate At that pomt, Ms Turner adVIsed Ms McNab that she was senously consIdenng havmg a mIl1lstenal mvestIgatIOn mto the matter Ms. Turner Said that m thIS meetmg, Ms McNab acknowledged that there were problems m her hfe She Said that she dId not know what was causmg her such stress. When she adVIsed Ms Turner that she could not guarantee that she would not repeat thIS behaVIOr m the future Ms Turner told her to see a doctor At that pomt, Ms. McNab left the facIhty 48 Kathy Young Re the Grievor, March '93-0ct. '93 Ms Young recalled that for SIX weeks m March to Apnl, 1993, the gnevor filled m for Ms Pat RIChardson, a Coordmator who reported dIrectly to her At the tIme, she saId, Ms. McNab had taken a SIX week leave of absence Both of her parents were qUIte III WhIle fillmg m for Ms. RIchardson, Ms. Young saId, the gnevor worked on her own or m conjUnctIOn wIth Dr McCreary, a consultant. At no time dunng thIS six week period, Ms. Young saId, did the gnevor ever say anything to her about Ms. McNab Other than dIscussmg certam matters relatmg to her dutIes dunng those SIX weeks, the gnevor SaId nothmg to her beyond the casual "Hi" or lIght chIt-chat m the general office Nothmg mdIcated to her that the gnevor was concerned about her relatIOnshIp WIth Ms. McNab On the contrary, Ms Young testified, she was concerned about Ms McNab She seemed to be under a lot of pressure Ms. McNab would get angry and shout m meetmgs that Ms. Young had WIth her It was a hard year for Ms. McNab, Ms. Young SaId, and she suggested to Ms. McNab that she take some vacatIOn time Ms. Young reIterated that she never observed Ms McNab behaving in thIS way WIth other staff She SaId that she thought that one of the roles of a semor manager was to act as an outlet for the ~ 49 stresses and strams upon the managers who reported to her Her managers would come in and complam, she said. They would let theIr haIr down. She had no sense that Ms McNab was behavmg unprofesslOnally WIth her own staff. Ms. Young saId that she knew that the grIevor took a lot of SIck tIme off m 1992-93, but explamed that she thought that thIS was due to a problem that the gnevor had WIth hypoglycemIa, a phYSIcal aIlment that she knew could mfluence the way that the grIevor felt. She SaId that she was aware that the grIevor had to watch her dIet. She had chabetIcs m her own faImly, she saId, so she was aware of what the grIevor's condition mvolved. As to the complamt from ReSIdent Records, Ms. Young stated that one of the staff m ReSIdent Records gneved a statement that Ms. McNab had made to her As she recalled, thIS was In September, 1993 (On the facts, however, the gnevance was m August. Ms. Young was dIrected by Ms Turner to mvestIgate the complamt from Mr Kaczan on September 1 ) Mr Kaczan only became mvolved because of some Issues that arose m a meetmg that was called to dISCUSS the gnevance Moreover, she SaId, Mr Kaczan never came to see her about It. The gnevance was settled at stage one when Ms. McNab apologIzed. As to the letter of complamt that the gnevor sent to Ms. Turner on October 4, Ms Young confirmed that Ms. Turner brought It to her attentlOn but at first dId not show the letter to her Pnor to thIS, she SaId, she was not aware of any of the enumerated complamts that the gnevor had made 50 r~"" When she saw the letter of complamt, she said, she was absolutely amazed and hornfied. She couldn't beheve It. Her first reactIOn was to try to SIt down wIth the gnevor and tell her that It was alnght to complam. She asked Mr Kaczan If she could speak to the gnevor but she was advIsed that the gnevor dId not want to speak to her When the gnevor returned two days later Ms Young saId, the gnevor had concerns about who would supervIse her She saId that she thought that Mr Martel performed thIS functIOn. The gnevor, however, was away from work a lot from October to November, 1993 (5) The Aftermath, October 7,1993 Onward' After consultmg WIth her own manager, Ms. Twner saId, she decIded that a mmIstenal mvestlgatIOn should be conducted. Mr Dale Beare was appointed the mvestlgator All partIes were notIfied and Mr Beare began hIS inveStlgatIOn almost ImmedIately Ms. McNab was placed on mdefimte SIck leave and warned not to contact anyone at RIdeau other than Ms. Turner or another admInIstrator These contacts had to be m wntmg. Ms Turner Said that thIS mstructlOn was to prevent unfortunate phone calls and to protect the gnevor and others. On October 20, 1993, the gnevor filed a gnevance regardmg Ms McNab's abUSIve conduct toward her A short tlme later thIS was followed by a gnevance from Ms SheIla DIxon. 51 Ms Turner also deterrmned that Ms. Young should be investigated. Ms. Young was removed from all responsibIhty Mr Martel took over the full Social Work Department. After a letter was sent to Ms McNab advIsmg her of these developments, a lawyer representmg Ms McNab, Ms PatncIa Brethour called Ms. Turner She and Ms Brethour met on October 26, 1993 Durmg that meetmg Ms. Brethour saId that Ms. McNab was mSIstent that she had never been sIck. Upon heanng thIS, Ms. Turner suspended Ms. McNab wIth pay pendmg the mvestIgatIon. The mvestIgatIOn was not completed untIl mId-March, 1994 The report was about two and a half mches thIck, wIth statements and testimony from not only the gnevor and Ms. DIxon but several other case workers who had worked for Ms. McNab In revIewmg the content of It, Ms. Turner became very concerned about the reperCUSSIOns that would follow If, m fact, the allegatIOns m the report were all true. The sImIlanty in the stones of the vanous case workers, she Said, lent credibIlIty to the gnevor's allegatIOns against Ms. McNab As a result, Ms. Turner requested an operatIOnal reVIew of the SocIal Work Department. The case workers were upset and nervous about the possibIlIty that Ms McNab would be commg back. Ms Turner adVIsed one of them, Ms Karen Brown, that some mterventIOn mIght be reqUIred. A short time later, Ms Turner was at a meetmg m Toronto and heard a speaker talkmg about 52 managmg harassment complamts. She spoke to hIm and told him what they were gomg through at RIdeau. He and Ms. McNab jomtly agreed to find a consultant who mIght be acceptable to both the employer and the umon. By this time, Ms Turner saId, a lot of employees were gettmg sick and angry The lmon readily agreed that a consultant would help They retamed a consultant named Mr Docherty to counsel the employees. The Management board Secretariat and RIdeau shared the cost. When she and Mr Kaczan met wIth Mr Docherty, Ms. Turner saId, thelT purpose was to try to rectIfy what had happened and get the workplace functIOnmg agam. Mr Docherty made It clear that he dId not want to meet wIth any management staff, but only members of the bargammg umt. Ms. McNab was dIscIplmed and never returned to work m the SOCIal Work Department at RIdeau. Ms. Young was transferred to another mstItutIOn. The gnevor remamed on short term sIck leave until August, 1994 She then went on long term dIsabIlIty until February, 1995 She returned to work at RIdeau, but only lasted for three weeks before havmg a relapse. Later on, the gnevor saId, her long term dIsabIlIty case manager negotiated a posItIOn for her at the Ottawa office of the MmIstry She worked there untIl the end of June 1996, when she was hospItalIzed for two and a half weeks due to depressIOn. 53 It seems that thIS depreSSIOn was brought on bv news from Ms. Turner and the lawyer for the Mimstry, Mr John SmIth, that she would be called to testIfy agamst Ms. McNab m her appeal of her dIscIplme. The gnevor Said that she met wIth them at the end of June and was told that she was to testIfy on July 25 Thereafter, Mr SmIth told her that her testImony had been postponed to September 30 The gnevor Said that she got dIstraught once more and was corrumtted to hospItal on July 28 or 29 followmg a SUIcIde attempt. She remained there for three weeks and then partICIpated m a day program for another three weeks. Smce then, the gnevor has remamed off work on long term dIsabilIty The gnevor indIcated m her eVIdence that whIle her goal was to return to work on a full tIme baSIS, she was not sure that she would be able to do thIs. The gnevor has continued m therapy WIth Dr Chandrasena. In hIS testImony, Dr Chandrasena mdIcated that after the present heanng ended, he wanted very gradually to get the gnevor back mto a work enVIronment. III. The Submissions of the Parties At the conclUSIOn of the evidence, Mr Ryder, counsel for the umon, submItted m wntten argument that from 1990 untIl after the gnevor's complamt m October 1983 the employer was m breach of the health and safety proVISIOns of artIcle 18 1 of the collectIve agreement. From 1990 onward, It was submItted, Ms. Young had a duty to take steps to protect the staff assIgned 54 to Ms. McNab, however, she dId the reverse by ImmedIately passmg on the complamts of staff to Ms. McNab, thus exposmg them to repnsals. It was further submItted by counsel for the umon that the fallure of the gnevor to complam earher than October 4, 1993, should not be a basIs for reductIOn m her remedy Had the gnevor complamed m 1992, It was submItted, It would not likely have made any dIfference. Complamts had been made m 1990 and 1991 wIth no beneficIal effect. Therefore, It was submItted, It cannot be suggested that one more complamt by the gnevor would have tIpped the balance. Moreover, it was submItted, management Itself was responsible for the fact that no employee complamed after Ms. Brown and Mr Ferner By that time, staff were aware that complamts would not be acted upon and that the only effect of complaming would be to alert Ms. McNab and thereby invIte repnsals. On the other hand, Mr Wiley, counsel for the employer, submItted that the eVIdence of other SOCIal workers havmg complamed at an earher pomt was not sufficIently proxImate m time or CIrcumstances to support a findmg that the employer ought to have known ofMs McNab's behaVIOr and the problems It apparently caused the gnevor It would not be appropnate, it was submitted, for thiS Board, with the benefit of hmdsIght, to say that those matters should have been handled m some dIfferent way Furthermore, counsel for the employer submitted, the employer took SWift and and decisive 55 actIon once the gnevor's complamt came to Its attentIOn. It was submItted that the wordmg of v arttcle 18 1 of the collectIve agreement was clear and unambIguouS. It mdlcated that there was a shared responsIbIhty between the employer and the umon to cooperate to the fullest extent possIble m a reasonable promotIOn of safety and health of all employees. If It IS to be argued that the employer has faIled to act reasonably m the CIrcumstances of thIS case, It was submItted, It can be argued equally that the umon has faIled to hve up to ItS responsibIlItIes under the CIrcumstances. IV Consideration of the Issues. At the outset of my consIderatIOn of the issues that learned counsel have raIsed, It seems Important to note what thIS case IS not. FIrst, this IS not a human nghts case, and so I am not called upon to deCIde when, if ever, the employer became hable for harassmg or dlscnmmatory remarks that Ms. McNab might have made regardmg the gnevor, Mr FerrIer or any other case worker who testIfied m thIS proceeding Secondly, thIS case IS not an "unfaIr or unreasonable exerCIse of management nghts" case No such claIm was made m thIS arbItratIOn. I am not called upon to deCIde when, If ever, Ms McNab's manager, Ms. Young, should have recogmzed that Ms. McNab was oversteppmg the bounds of faIrness or reasonableness m exercIsmg management's nghts over her case workers, and stepped m to redress the SItuatIOn. 56 This case was presented solely on the ground that to Ms. Young's knowledge, a manager under .? her dIrectIOn, Ms. McNab, engaged m a practice of abusmg her case workers to the pomt at whIch It threatened theIr health and safety In breach of artIcle 18 1 of the collective agreement. Counsel for the umon essentially submItted that Ms. Young knew or should have known thIS m March, 1992, when the gnevor requested to be assIgned to Ms. McNab Counsel for the employer essentially submItted that Ms. Young could not and dId not know thIS until October 5, 1993, when Ms. Tumer advised her of the content of the gnevor's letter of complaInt. f ArtIcle 18 1 of the collective agreement reads as follows l 18 1 The employer shall contInue to make reasonable proviSIons for the safety and health of ItS employees dunng the hours of theIr employment. It IS agreed that both the employer and the umon shall cooperate to the fullest extent pOSSIble m the preventIOn of aCCIdents and m the reasonable promotIOn of safety and health of all employees. FIrst, thIS provlSlon reqUires the employer to contmue to make reasonable prOVlSlon for, inter alia, the health of employees. Secondly, it makes both the employer and the union responSIble to "co-operate to the fullest extent possible" reasonably to promote, inter alia, the health of employees It seems to me that in the case of an abUSIve bad boss, the employer wIll be m breach ofthe first duty, above, whenever managers fall to take adequate countermeasures III response to CIrcumstances ralSIllg a reasonable probabIlIty that unless they do so a practice of abuse engaged III by an alleged bad boss under theIr dIrectIOn WIll tngger senous Illness III one or more 57 employees In the case of the umon, the second duty reqUIres It to "co-operate to the fullest extent possible" III bnngmg to the attentIOn of management the practIce of abuse engaged m by a bad boss My use of the term "serIous Illness" m the above defimtIOn of the employer's hablhty IS mtended to dIfferentIate between stresses, tenSIOns, nntatIOns or unhappy situatIOns that do not amount to medIcally recogmzed condItIons and those whIch do A SImilar effort to make thIs dIfferentIatIOn was made III an authority to whIch I was referred by counsel for the employer, Re Westfair Foods Ltd. And United Food & Commercial Workers, Local 832 (1992), 29 L A. C (4th) 222, at 250 (Mamtoba, F M. Steel) In that case, the learned arbitrator saId. There was no eVIdence adduced to indIcate that any employee became Ill, reqUIred medical treatment or suffered any effects on then health as a result of Mr Cesario's [i.e., the alleged abusIve bad boss's] conduct. Some of the employees testIfied they were nervous or had dIfficulty sleepmg at mght, yet no eVIdence was led of medIcal reports or compensatIOn claIms or even tIme taken from work. It IS true that Karen Gamoch vomIted at work and took the rest of the day off on the doctor s adVIce, however, there was no medIcal eVIdence adduced to mdlcate the reason. I agree that the SItuatIOn was unpleasant, but somethmg more must be shown before an unsafe workmg condItIOn IS estabhshed. Id. At 250-51 It was concluded that somethmg more than mere unpleasantness must be shown m order to estabhsh an unsafe workmg condItIOn. Transposmg these observatIOns to the present case, It may be SaId that a reasonable probablllty 58 that an employee wIll find the supervlSlon of an alleged bad boss to be stressful, unpleasant or unsettlmg wIll not result m a breach of the health and safety proVISIOns of artIcle 18 1 of the collectIve agreement. There must be a reasonable probablhty that a practIce of abuse engaged m by the alleged bad boss wIll tngger a senous illness. The questIon IS, when dId Ms. Young become aware of cncumstances ralSlng a reasonable probabIlIty that unless she took adequate countermeasures, a practIce of abuse engaged m by Ms. McNab would tngger senous Illness m one or more employees? I find that Ms. Young became aware of such circumstances in April, 1993, when Ms. McNab started getting angry and shoutmg m meetmgs that Ms. Young had with her It was then that Ms. Young became concerned that Ms. McNab was under a lot of pressure She should also have become concerned that If Ms. McNab was under so much presure that she would explode when dealIng WIth her own manager and frIend, what was she doing to her staff? Pnor to thIS tIme, Ms. Young had reason to belIeve that all that Ms. McNab was doing was engagmg m authontarIan leadershIp that, from tIme to tIme, some of her case workers found stressful, Imtatmg, unsettlmg and unpleasant. Ms. Young knew thIS about Ms. McNab even before June, 1985, when Ms. McNab first came to RIdeau as a supervIsor of case workers. She counterbalanced agamst thIS m her assessment of the costs and benefits ofrecrUItmg Ms McNab, the latter's extensIve credentIals and reputatIOn m the field of SOCIal work. 59 Up untIl September 1986, when Ms. McNab temporanly left the department, Ms. Young had ..- reason to belIeve that her faIth m Ms. McNab had paId off. There were no complamts about her from the case workers that she supervIsed. On the contrary, her case workers had developed a close relatIOnshIp wIth her and had become cheerleaders for her I When Ms. McNab returned, m September, 1990, Ms. Young had every reason to belIeve that once the case workers who were newly assIgned to her got used to her authorItarian management style, a sImIlar mutual respect and admIratIOn would develop. f Of course, It was not to be. For some reason, Ms. McNab had begun to change Her authontarIan management style was beginnmg to evolve mto an abusive one, characterIzed by bullymg attacks upon the profeSSIOnal competence of her case workers, paranOId behaVIor, personal vendettas, controllIng and Isolatmg tactics, and abUSIve ravmgs or harangues. Due to her pnor expenence WIth Ms. McNab, Ms. Young was slow to accept that the complamts she receIved from mdIvIdual case workers were more than Isolated mstances of exaggeratIOn by dIssatIsfied employees. When Ms Bowman complamed to her m the Fall of 1990, Ms. Young apparently thought that Ms Bowman resented Ms McNab's efforts to Improve her wTItmg She accepted Ms McNab's word over that ofMs Bowman. The same thmg happened when Ms DIxon complamed at about the same tIme Ms. Young apparently thought that Ms DIxon resented Ms. McNab's efforts to get her to thmk more lIke a 60 SOCIal worker than a residentIal counselor Once agaIn, she accepted Ms. McNab's word over that v.... of Ms. DIxon. Ms. Young thought that she had been proven correct when Ms. DIxon told her that she no longer wanted to transfer It should be saId that It IS not possible to credIt In thIs award the eVIdence of Ms. DIxon regardIng her concerns about Mr Banford's becommg sUICIdal. Although Ms. Young demed that Ms. DIxon told her anythIng about Mr Banford, I would be more mclIned to accept Ms. DIxon's eVIdence; however, Mr Banford was not called to testify and as a result, Ms. DIxon's eVIdence regardmg hIS condItIon cannot rIse above the level of hearsay In AprIl, 1991, when Ms. Brown complaIned to Ms. Young, Ms. Young likeWIse mmImlzed any concerns that she expressed about beIng abused by Ms. McNab In fact, Ms. Young testIfied that the only thIng that she could remember was Ms. Brown's concern about bemg assIgned a full case load rather than a half load as reqUIred by her medIcal certIficate. She could not even remember Ms. Brown's repeated attempts to escape from Ms. McNab's supervIsion by takIng contract pOSItIons WIth Mr Martel Ms Young dId remember that In June, 1991, Mr Femer tned to reSIst bemg transferred to Ms. McNab's supervISIOn. Both Ms Femer and Ms. Young agreed, however, that the only reason that Mr Femer gave for hIS reSIstance was that he dId not hke Ms McNab's management style Once Mr Femer came under the superVIsIon ofMs McNab, and, It must be saId, receIved very senous abuse, he dId not complaIn to Ms. Young. 61 By the time that thIS pomt was reached, Ms. Young must have begun to wonder whether Ms. McNab's management style had changed for the worse When Ms McNab returned m 1990, Ms Young anticIpated that after about two months, the relatIOnshIp between Ms. McNab and her case workers would become comfortable and supportIve As the complamts kept on rollIng In, she must have become somewhat uneasy that the antICIpated change had not occurred. At the same tIme, however, Ms. Young was stIll not aware that any senous Illness was lIkely to result from Ms. McNab's altered conduct. Ms. Bowman never told her that toward the last part of her supervlSlon by Mr McNab she became so dIstraught that she had to call a help lIne. Mr Femer never told her that for the first time 111 hIS career, he had to seek medIcal help from hIS famIly doctor Moreover, there was lIttle m the way of eVIdence to support all Inference that Ms Young must have become aware In her own nght of the practIce of abuse that Ms McNab had begun to VISIt upon her employees. WhIle It IS true that Ms Young's office was close to the offices of the case workers, the WItnesses consIstently testIfied that for the most part, Ms. McNab practIced her abuse III the pnvacy of theIr offices. The gnevor even testIfied that she hId the problem from her co-workers. All of thIS changed III Apnl, 1993 Ms Young was confronted WIth llTefutable eVIdence that Ms McNab had lost control of her emotIOns and become very abUSIve She began to lose her temper 62 and shout even at Ms. Young I cannot accept Ms. Young's explanatIOn that she belIeved that thIs was Just a case of one of her managers usmg her as an opportumty to "let down her haIr" She must have been concerned about the many complaInts she had receIved. The abuse that Ms. McNab dlfected toward her would conVInce any reasonable manager that the complamts she'd already heard and dIsmIssed about Ms. McNab's abuse were more than the exaggeratIOns of IndIVIdual dIsgruntled employees. At that pOInt, Ms. Young became aware of CIrcumstances raIsmg a reasonable probabIlity that unless she took reasonable steps or countermeasures, the practIce of abuse that Ms. McNab was engaging m would tngger senous Illness In one or more employees. Yet Ms Young dId not take any actIOn. She dId not even take any actIOn on September 1,1993, when Ms. Turner dIrected her to InVestIgate with Mr Kaczan the allegatIOns of abuse resultIng from the ReSIdent Records InCIdent. In chOOSIng to stall rather than take reasonable measures to protect the case workers under Ms. McNab's superVISIOn, Ms. Young caused the employer to breach the health and safety prOVlSlons of artIcle 18 1 of the collectIve agreement. ThIS breach WIll be conSIdered to have occurred as of Apnl 1, 1993 It IS also concluded that thIS breach of artIcle 18 1 exacerbated the gnevor's Illness to the pOInt where It became necessary from a theraputIc pOInt of VIew for the gnevor to leave the workplace Dr Chandrasena testified that the gnevor s condItIOn kept worsenIng WIth the abuse she receIved from Ms. McNab On June 23 1993 he noted In hIS notes that as part of hIS treatment plan 63 the gnevor should go off work. Pnor to thIS tIme, he had tned to keep the gnevor at work for as long as possible through the use of medicatIOn and copmg strategIes. The gnevor dId not go off work untIl after she had filed her letter of complaInt In October, 1993 ThIs IS as far as the Board needs to go m the present phase of the arbItratIOn. At the outset of the hearmg, the partIes agreed to confine thIs phase of the proceedIng to the questIOn of lIabIlIty and reserve the questIOn of remedy for later determInatIOn should the gnevance succeed. V ConclUSIOn. The gnevance IS allowed In part. EIther party may brIng on for hearIng the remedy phase of the proceedIng upon wntten applIcatIOn to the Board. Dated at Toronto, Ontano, this 24th day of March, 1997 11 ----L / I v R. Jack Roberts, VIce ChaIr I