Sherri Merritt claims in a lawsuit filed Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court that she suffered harassment at the hands of her RCMP superiors while she was off work undergoing cancer treatment.
Merritt, 45, is also pregnant and is expecting her first baby in August.
Her lawyer, Tom Beasley, said that he represents about a dozen RCMP employees, some of whom have filed lawsuits against the force.
“Most of the complaints involve bullying and harassment in the workplace,” he said.
“It exists and it’s substantive. It seems to be part of the para-military culture,” Beasley said.
Merritt began working for the City of Coquitlam in 1994 and five years later became a civilian employee of the Coquitlam RCMP, classified as an insurance/disclosure clerk.
She claims in her legal action that she pointed out to the RCMP and the city “blatant mistakes” in disclosure, mistakes that could have led to the RCMP being found liable for violations of the Privacy Act, putting public safety at risk and possible child endangerment.
After pointing out the mistakes, Merritt claims, she was harassed by RCMP officers in the analyst reviewer section, who felt threatened by Merritt.
She claims the city and the RCMP didn’t take her concerns about improper disclosure seriously.
In September 2011, her lawsuit says, she consulted with RCMP Cpl. Dean Allchin, a recognized privacy policy adviser, to prepare a letter to Coquitlam RCMP Supt. Claude Wilcott — the officer in charge of the detachment — which identified the inherent risks in the Coquitlam RCMP’s disclosure policies and a business plan with ways to correct those risks.
She submitted the letter and business plan on Sept. 19, 2011, after her doctor advised she take a six-week medical leave to undergo cancer treatment.
She says she went to the detachment that evening to finish up her work before going on leave, submitted invoices and deleted letter templates and files but saved them on a USB drive for her replacement to use while she was gone.
Merritt claims she had checked with Allchin before deleting the files and his opinion was it wouldn’t be problematic.
“No information was lost or destroyed,” her lawsuit says, but she was later accused by her superiors of destroying files.
She learned a month into her medical leave, just before she was scheduled to return to work in October 2011, that a criminal investigation was being conducted into the matter.
Merritt says she phoned Wilcott, who said Merritt was under investigation for something she had done to her computer, her security clearance was cancelled and she could not return to work.
The fact she was under criminal investigation was “broadcasted” to Merritt’s co-workers through emails and by word of mouth, which the lawsuit claims defamed Merritt’s character and “poisoned” her workplace.
While these events were going on, Merritt had a successful in-vitro fertilization procedure in December 2011, having wanted to have a child for many years. Her due date is Aug. 25 of this year.
Her lawsuit claims RCMP Sgt. Jennifer Hyland went to Crown counsel and asked that Merritt be charged with “mischief to data” but the Crown did not proceed with criminal charges.
Instead, Merritt’s lawsuit claims, Crown counsel Susan McCallum sent two “warning letters” to Merritt, suggesting the plaintiff intended to “disrupt or control” her office while she was on sick leave “for the purpose of drawing attention to work [she] felt was important.”
Beasley said he found it “bizarre” that the Crown sent a warning letter to Merritt. “I’ve never heard of a Crown sending a warning letter,” he said.
The city has refused to reinstate Merritt and told her on March 1 to apply for Employment Insurance.
Merritt is seeking an injunction to have her security clearance reinstated and is seeking damages for defamation, lost wages, mental distress and loss of future income.
She is also seeking aggravated and punitive damages.
Named as defendants the Attorney-General of Canada, the Minister of Justice for B.C., the City of Coquitlam, Wilcott, McCallum and Hyland.
The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court.
Original Article
Source: vancouver sun
Author: NEAL HALL
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