The Mounties want you to believe they take sexual harassment allegations seriously. But when you listen to Janet Merlo’s story, the RCMP’s oft-repeated declaration rings hollow. In September, 2007, Constable Merlo wrote to then-RCMP commissioner William Elliott concerning plans under way to transfer her out of the B.C. detachment in which she was serving. In the note, she talked about a run-in she had with a supervisor because “I did not think his sexual advances were funny.”
She didn’t think the sex toys he was leaving on her desk were funny either.
“Yet I put up and shut up with the sexual harassment for the sake of the RCMP, but kept all the notes, dates and times in case the problem escalated,” she wrote to the commissioner. “That year, my assessment reflected his feeling about me not accepting his jokes and presents.
“How silly I was not to launch one of the biggest sexual harassment lawsuits the RCMP has ever seen in this province.”
Provocative allegations. Certainly ones you would think might have prompted the recipient to launch an immediate investigation. At the very least, a diligent and sensitive CEO would have quickly assured his employee that he was taking her claims seriously and that someone would be in touch to discuss them further.