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Two human rights complaints filed by Ottawa police officers against the Ottawa police force alleging racial discrimination were quietly settled in the last year. The police department is currently involved in at least five other Human Rights Tribunal cases.
The exact number of human rights complaints against the force isn’t known because the public tribunal that hears them only publishes some of its decisions, those where settlements aren’t confidential and can be made public. The tribunal has not answered questions about how many active complaints there are against the Ottawa Police Service as an employer, or how many settlements were reached in the last year.
Settlements can range from a public agreement that mandates new policies force-wide to individual remedies that affect just one officer. In 2015, a gender settlement saw the force audit all its practices to see how women were affected. In other cases, grievances to the police union under the collective agreement made with just the threat of human rights complaints have been settled with officers being given placements in desired units or asking for career development opportunities.
There are currently five active human rights complaints, known to this newspaper, that have been lodged by Ottawa police officers against their employers – four of those allege discrimination on the basis of race and one on the basis of gender, according to formal filings with the tribunal and multiple sources.
Insp. Samir Bhatnagar, an East-Indian officer, has alleged racial discrimination by police Chief Charles Bordeleau. In his complaint, Bhatnagar says that under Bordeleau’s tenure he has been denied a promotion to the upper ranks of the force despite being qualified for the job. The police board, in its defence to the complaint, has instead said that Bhatnagar was critical of the chief and therefore couldn’t be trusted by Bordeleau.
Const. Matt Clarke, a black officer, is alleging discrimination based on race by a supervisor while he was an officer in the force’s unit at the Ottawa airport. Those allegations date back to at least 2015, when Clarke and five other officers including those who were not racialized officers, filed a complaint to the Ontario Labour Relations Board that they were on the receiving end of an “unlawful reprisal” when they were transferred out of the unit. Clarke also filed a complaint alleging he was not fairly represented by the police union.
Const. Khoa Hoang, a Vietnamese officer, alleges that he was racially discriminated against in being denied a promotion – to sergeant –and that in informally disciplining him over allegations that he was dodging 911 calls, the service denied him the opportunity to properly defend himself. Hoang had been attempting to become a sergeant when a supervisor investigated him and found issues with his response to several emergency calls. Those issues, tracked by his cruiser’s GPS, included taking indirect routes to calls and taking direct routes but somehow still arriving second on scene. Despite the serious allegations, Hoang was never charged under the Police Services Act and instead the situation was handled informally. Hoang grieved his treatment through the police union’s collective agreement and no evidence of racial discrimination was found. The service offered Hoang additional training, that should he complete, would see him back on the promotional track, according to his complaint. Hoang, due to “excessive anxiety”, asked that he be transferred to a different division where rumours about his job performance would not be top of mind, to fulfill the hours, according to the complaint. His request was denied. The force has not yet replied to the allegations.
Const. Pat Lafreniere, an Indigenous officer, is also alleging racial discrimination. This newspaper has not seen the complaint but has learned that the human rights allegations against the force have been levied in connection to how it handled an investigation into whether Lafreniere himself was making racist comments about a colleague. Lafreniere has not been charged with any related offences under the Police Services Act for that allegation of misconduct, but alleges instead that he was unfairly removed from the unit that handles protests after going to anti-misconduct officers at his own force with concerns that a supervisor in the same unit had, while off-duty, attended an “anti-Israeli” protest. Lafreniere alleges that some of his colleagues created a fake Facebook profile purporting to be his and used it to mock his Indigenous heritage.
Const. Josette Senecal, a female officer, has also filed a human rights complaint against the service alleging gender discrimination at the hands of the force. This newspaper has not seen the complaint but has learned that it, too, is about an informal process of discipline.
Multiple sources say that to have five active complaints against the service at the Human Rights Tribunal-level is extraordinary. They have posited that the high number is an expression of ongoing frustration with the organization and the treatment of officers by management. There appears to also be a “culture of encouragement” among officers to go public with their allegations of both officer-level discrimination and that which has been allegedly enabled by the force as a whole, rather than stay silent and handle the matter internally.
Human rights lawyer Paul Champ, who is representing Bhatnagar, says that human rights tribunals themselves recognize how rare it is to see overt discrimination today. It’s generally accepted that those overt displays of discrimination are wrong, but the systemic ways discrimination manifests itself has also been recognized.
“It’s rare that you’ll see the case where there is a racial slur,” Champ said. Instead, courts and tribunals are looking for evidence that the complainant is a member of a discriminated-against group and, in the case of a job promotion complaint, whether they are qualified for the position and whether a member of a non-discriminated against group got the job instead.
Once that basic case is made, the burden is on the police force to explain why the complainant was not hired. But if that explanation sounds like a pre-text or excuse, even if there is some validity to it, courts and tribunals will still look for discrimination being a factor in the explanation, Champ said.
“There’s no question that officers who feel they have been treated unfairly recognize that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario is a more open and transparent process than the (labour) grievance process,” Champ said. The force, he said, is also more cautious and more fearful of the tribunal process for the same reason, and that is a dynamic in why some cases get settled.
syogaretnam@postmedia.com
twitter.com/shaaminiwhy
查看原文...
The exact number of human rights complaints against the force isn’t known because the public tribunal that hears them only publishes some of its decisions, those where settlements aren’t confidential and can be made public. The tribunal has not answered questions about how many active complaints there are against the Ottawa Police Service as an employer, or how many settlements were reached in the last year.
Settlements can range from a public agreement that mandates new policies force-wide to individual remedies that affect just one officer. In 2015, a gender settlement saw the force audit all its practices to see how women were affected. In other cases, grievances to the police union under the collective agreement made with just the threat of human rights complaints have been settled with officers being given placements in desired units or asking for career development opportunities.
There are currently five active human rights complaints, known to this newspaper, that have been lodged by Ottawa police officers against their employers – four of those allege discrimination on the basis of race and one on the basis of gender, according to formal filings with the tribunal and multiple sources.
Insp. Samir Bhatnagar, an East-Indian officer, has alleged racial discrimination by police Chief Charles Bordeleau. In his complaint, Bhatnagar says that under Bordeleau’s tenure he has been denied a promotion to the upper ranks of the force despite being qualified for the job. The police board, in its defence to the complaint, has instead said that Bhatnagar was critical of the chief and therefore couldn’t be trusted by Bordeleau.
Const. Matt Clarke, a black officer, is alleging discrimination based on race by a supervisor while he was an officer in the force’s unit at the Ottawa airport. Those allegations date back to at least 2015, when Clarke and five other officers including those who were not racialized officers, filed a complaint to the Ontario Labour Relations Board that they were on the receiving end of an “unlawful reprisal” when they were transferred out of the unit. Clarke also filed a complaint alleging he was not fairly represented by the police union.
Const. Khoa Hoang, a Vietnamese officer, alleges that he was racially discriminated against in being denied a promotion – to sergeant –and that in informally disciplining him over allegations that he was dodging 911 calls, the service denied him the opportunity to properly defend himself. Hoang had been attempting to become a sergeant when a supervisor investigated him and found issues with his response to several emergency calls. Those issues, tracked by his cruiser’s GPS, included taking indirect routes to calls and taking direct routes but somehow still arriving second on scene. Despite the serious allegations, Hoang was never charged under the Police Services Act and instead the situation was handled informally. Hoang grieved his treatment through the police union’s collective agreement and no evidence of racial discrimination was found. The service offered Hoang additional training, that should he complete, would see him back on the promotional track, according to his complaint. Hoang, due to “excessive anxiety”, asked that he be transferred to a different division where rumours about his job performance would not be top of mind, to fulfill the hours, according to the complaint. His request was denied. The force has not yet replied to the allegations.
Const. Pat Lafreniere, an Indigenous officer, is also alleging racial discrimination. This newspaper has not seen the complaint but has learned that the human rights allegations against the force have been levied in connection to how it handled an investigation into whether Lafreniere himself was making racist comments about a colleague. Lafreniere has not been charged with any related offences under the Police Services Act for that allegation of misconduct, but alleges instead that he was unfairly removed from the unit that handles protests after going to anti-misconduct officers at his own force with concerns that a supervisor in the same unit had, while off-duty, attended an “anti-Israeli” protest. Lafreniere alleges that some of his colleagues created a fake Facebook profile purporting to be his and used it to mock his Indigenous heritage.
Const. Josette Senecal, a female officer, has also filed a human rights complaint against the service alleging gender discrimination at the hands of the force. This newspaper has not seen the complaint but has learned that it, too, is about an informal process of discipline.
Multiple sources say that to have five active complaints against the service at the Human Rights Tribunal-level is extraordinary. They have posited that the high number is an expression of ongoing frustration with the organization and the treatment of officers by management. There appears to also be a “culture of encouragement” among officers to go public with their allegations of both officer-level discrimination and that which has been allegedly enabled by the force as a whole, rather than stay silent and handle the matter internally.
Human rights lawyer Paul Champ, who is representing Bhatnagar, says that human rights tribunals themselves recognize how rare it is to see overt discrimination today. It’s generally accepted that those overt displays of discrimination are wrong, but the systemic ways discrimination manifests itself has also been recognized.
“It’s rare that you’ll see the case where there is a racial slur,” Champ said. Instead, courts and tribunals are looking for evidence that the complainant is a member of a discriminated-against group and, in the case of a job promotion complaint, whether they are qualified for the position and whether a member of a non-discriminated against group got the job instead.
Once that basic case is made, the burden is on the police force to explain why the complainant was not hired. But if that explanation sounds like a pre-text or excuse, even if there is some validity to it, courts and tribunals will still look for discrimination being a factor in the explanation, Champ said.
“There’s no question that officers who feel they have been treated unfairly recognize that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario is a more open and transparent process than the (labour) grievance process,” Champ said. The force, he said, is also more cautious and more fearful of the tribunal process for the same reason, and that is a dynamic in why some cases get settled.
syogaretnam@postmedia.com
twitter.com/shaaminiwhy
查看原文...
