Deputy chief's hearing set for December
Allegations against him span 11 years
An Ottawa police deputy chief who is accused of sexually harassing three female employees will face a disciplinary hearing in December, this newspaper has learned.
Deputy Chief Uday Jaswal is charged with three counts of insubordination and three counts of discreditable conduct under the Police Services Act for allegedly sexually harassing two female Ottawa police officers and allegedly sexually harassing and assaulting a female civilian employee.
It was that civilian employee who first came forward with allegations against Jaswal in a human rights complaint filed in August 2019.
The allegations of repeated come-ons and requests for dates and unwanted touching contained in that complaint were then investigated by the Ontario Civilian Police Commission. Two additional complainants came forward directly to the OCPC after that first investigation. Those complainants alleged that Jaswal made a lewd comment in offering to “test out” a mattress and punitively transferred one of them when his repeated advances were rejected.
The charges tell the story of allegations against the deputy chief that span 11 years. He was suspended with pay in March by the police board following the first set of charges laid against him.
None of the allegations against Jaswal has yet been tested.
His lawyer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Jaswal, in his reply to the original human rights complaint, admitted pursuing the civilian employee and having a romantic interest in her, but only because he thought she was single. In that reply, he also said the touching was accidental, fumbling and not intentional.
The police board, Jaswal's employer, and the service jointly announced last week the hiring of an independent investigator to probe complaints of workplace sexual harassment and violence from within the service. Jaswal's hearing is scheduled for five days and is set to begin on Dec. 16.