Zabia Chamberlain: ‘That’s my whole life they took’

Zabia Chamberlain’s nightmare began in October 2007 when she accepted an executive job at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada’s national headquarters at Place du Portage in Gatineau.

Within days, her new boss, a director general at HRSDC, began a pattern of bullying and harassment that ranged from profane shouting and door-slamming to uninvited physical contact. Within eight months, his behaviour had driven her out of the workplace, terrified and traumatized. She hasn’t been back since.

Today, Chamberlain’s 22-year public service career is in ruins. It’s doubtful it can ever be revived. If anything, her health has worsened. She suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and severe depression. Her voice often shakes and stutters, she fears public places and she drives miles out of her way to avoid Place du Portage which, since she lives in Gatineau, is a constant presence.

Former public servant takes alleged harassment case to Supreme Court

Former federal public servant Zabia Chamberlain, who alleges she was harassed by her boss at Human Resources and Skills Development Canada in 2007-2008 and has been unsuccessfully fighting for years to get restitution from the government, is now taking her fight for financial security and closure to the Supreme Court.

Ms. Chamberlain currently suffers from severe post-traumatic stress disorder and has for years been unable to function as a result of the nine months she alleges her boss harassed her when she worked as an executive in HRSDC from September 2007 to June 2008.

The 45-year-old Gatineau, Que., resident and mother of two university-age daughters started her two-decade long federal career in the federal government with National Defence in 1988.

In fall of 2007, a temporary promotion brought Ms. Chamberlain under the supervision of a director general in HRSDC’s Skills and Employment Branch. She was in charge of administering more than $2-billion in grants, had three team leaders, and 25 employees working under her.

Ms. Chamberlain alleges her boss would barge into her office, yelling and swearing at her. She alleges he would also hover behind her, touching the back of her chair and rubbing her shoulders while she worked.