A B.C. Supreme Court has dismissed a lawsuit from a woman alleging she was constructively dismissed from the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) after she complained of “serious sexual assault and workplace harassment.”
However, ruled Justice Michael Tammen, the internal process on the complaints is ongoing and the plaintiff had given no evidence the grievance process is corrupt.
The complainant, known only as Jane Doe in court documents, commenced her CSIS employment Sept. 4, 2018.
She attended a three-and-a-half-month course at the outset of her work, at which she claims she was sexually assaulted by one of the course instructors, according to the Sept. 29 decision.
She then underwent a two-year probationary period with CSIS. For the first nine months, starting in January 2019, Doe worked closely with Individual E on a surveillance unit that required the two of them to spend 10-hour shifts together in a vehicle.
“Ms. Doe pleads that Individual E sexually harassed her, and on numerous occasions sexually assaulted and raped her during work shifts,” Tammen said.
She claimed other CSIS employees, including supervisors, witnessed the conduct but did nothing to stop it.
On Nov. 10, 2021, Doe filed a formal complaint with CSIS pursuant to its internal harassment and violence in the workplace policy.
After that, she claimed she was subjected to treatment by CSIS personnel that rendered her continued employment intolerable.
On Dec. 10, 2021, Doe ended the employment relationship, pleading constructive dismissal in her claim.
“According to CSIS, Ms. Doe remains employed there, and is officially on leave,” Tammen said. “The investigation into Ms. Doe’s complaints is ongoing.”
What was before Tammen was an application by the government (the federal attorney general is named as the defendant) to have the case dismissed.
Tammen said Doe had a number of routes by which to grieve her situation with the employer.
“Here, all the allegations relate to matters occurring within the workplace, and all such claims may be considered within the complaint resolution scheme available to Ms. Doe outside the courts,” Tammen said.
The judge said Doe has alleged the CSIS grievance system is corrupt.
But, he said, “it is not sufficient for Ms. Doe to establish that she reasonably believed that the internal grievance processes are corrupt. There must be actual evidence that the process itself is corrupt.”
As such, he concluded, “I am satisfied that there is no genuine issue for trial.”
