Even though an employer's harassment investigation was allegedly slow, inadequate and had a questionable outcome, the employee had not suffered a "reprisal" under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Ontario Labour Relations Board has held.
The Employee alleged that another employee had harassed her. She filed a harassment complaint with the employer. The employer investigated and actually found that her complaint was substantiated.
The employee was still unhappy. She filed a reprisal complaint with the OLRB, alleging that the investigation took too long and was of poor quality, and that the outcome was not appropriate (she said that the employer has not done enough to protect her from the harasser – she had asked the employer to guarantee that she would never work with him again – and she wanted more serious discipline imposed on the harasser).
The OLRB decided that the employer's actions, if true, did not meet the definition of reprisal under the OHSA. The employee did not claim that she was disciplined, dismissed or threatened for claiming the protection of the OHSA. Nor did she plead any facts that could lead the OLRB to conclude that the employer has penalized, intimidated or coerced her for seeking to enforce the OHSA.
The OLRB stated:
"While Ms. Pouli is not happy with the conduct of the investigation and, to a certain extent, its outcome, her dissatisfaction with the process and the discipline (or lack thereof) ultimately imposed upon the Co-worker do not constitute reprisals under the Act . . . [T]he instant case can be summarized as follows: The Employer has a Policy pursuant to which Ms. Pouli filed a Complaint, which was investigated but Ms. Pouli is not happy with the investigatory process and certain aspects of the results. This set of facts simply does not engage section 50 of the Act."
This case illustrates the principle that under the OHSA, most harassment issues are to be dealt with and resolved internally within the employer's organization. Given the structure of the harassment provisions of the OHSA, in only exceptional cases will the OLRB or the Ontario Ministry of Labour get involved with the conduct or even the outcome of harassment investigations.
Camille Pouli v Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, 2016 CanLII 48460 (ON LRB)
For more information, visit our Occupational Health & Safety Law blog at www.occupationalhealthandsafetylaw.com
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