Harassment case to resume
Human rights hearing for officer’s complaint was in danger of having to start over
The human rights hearing for a female Toronto police officer alleging workplace sexual harassment is likely to resume this summer, after the years-long proceeding was suddenly thrown into limbo due to scheduling complications.
In a letter sent Friday, Const. Heather McWilliam was informed that a former vice-chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) would return to oversee the remainder of the case, sparing the officer from possibly having to restart the hearing — five years after McWilliam filed her compliant, and after 34 days of testimony had already been heard.
As first reported by the Star, McWilliam was told earlier this month that adjudicator Jo-Anne Pickel, who is no longer working with the HRTO, would not be able to return to complete the hearing.
The absence of the lone adjudicator, combined with a lack of transcripts, meant the hearing would likely have to start over, McWilliam’s lawyer Kate Hughes said.
In an email Monday, Hughes described the attempt to finish the hearing as a “very tiring roller-coaster.”
“It is hard to focus on the case when you have to fight so hard just to get hearing dates,” she said.
Friday’s letter, indicating the adjudicator is available in July, does not acknowledge a March 4 communication to all parties stating Pickel was not available to complete the case, Hughes noted.
Three former servers who worked at Hamilton’s iconic Black Forest Inn for decades are accusing the restaurant’s new owners of discriminating against them based on their age.
The women, who range in age from 49 to 64, allege in human rights complaints filed last year that their former employer cut their hours at the King St. E. restaurant and replaced them with younger workers.
Their case, which will be heard before the province’s human rights tribunal beginning March 27, puts the spotlight on the beloved half-century-old institution well-known in Hamilton for its hearty German and Austrian fare and beer served by staff wearing traditional outfits.
Brigitte Evans, Anele Murauskas and Ilda Rosser left their jobs in late 2017 — less than a year after longtime family owners Wolfgang and Gabi Schoen sold the half-century-old restaurant.
In their complaints, the Hamilton women say new management slashed their shifts to reduce the business’ operating costs while also hiring “a number of new workers who were clearly much younger” than them. While their hours dropped, the new staff were being scheduled between 30 and 40 hours a week, the women allege. The Black Forest Inn denies the allegations.
“We here at the Black Forest Inn have always strived to be inclusive, diverse and welcoming,” said Paul Wells, operating partner at the restaurant. “We don’t discriminate on any basis whatsoever.”
He declined to comment on the specifics of the case as it’s still before the tribunal.
Both Evans, 64, who worked at the restaurant for 36 years, and Murauskas, who was there for more than 19 years, say they were moved from night to day shifts, which typically provides less opportunity for tips.
In the past, senior staff typically worked the evening shifts, Murauskas said in an interview.
The restaurant says it hired new employees, but “only on an as-needed basis to maintain a consistent number of staff” and that they worked the majority of day shifts.
“BFI has never made any decision in respect of its employees based on their age,” their response to the human rights complaints reads.
Having worked at the landmark restaurant for nearly two decades, Murauskas, who is 62, said she built up long-standing relationships with a number of regular customers. “After such a long time, we built up such a rapport with the customers that we got to know them by name and generations — we went to funerals,” she said.
After the sale, customers would come in and ask to sit in her section, only to be told by the new manager that there would be an hour-long wait despite that not being true, she said. He would try to “persuade” the customers to sit in an area serviced by younger staff, she alleged in her complaint. According to her complaint, he also told her he needed her to work the restaurant’s 50th anniversary so regular customers could “see that she was still there and did not quit.”
Rosser, 49, said she also felt she was not treated equally after the ownership change. “The only times I would get tables is when there was nowhere else for them to sit,” she said.
At the time of the sale in December 2016, the Spectator and other media reported the restaurant had been sold to Forge & Foster Investment Management. Joe Accardi, who is with Forge & Foster, said the Black Forest Inn is operated by himself and Wells.
“We promised the previous owners . . . to change as little as possible including the food, chefs, staff, interior and schnitzel for their legacy, and to keep this icon moving onto the next 50 years as the past 50 years,” he said. “It’s become an icon and we’re committed to keeping it that way for Hamiltonians to continue to enjoy the best we can.”
In their human rights complaints, the women also allege they did not receive proper training on the new point-ofsale system and were scolded by management for asking other staff for help during their shifts or when they would come in to practise on a day off.
All three women handed in their resignation letters between September and December 2017. They are alleging the changes to their hours and shifts amount to constructive dismissal.
The former servers, who later went on to find new but not “comparable” employment, say the treatment they faced as older women was not fair and they want to get their message out.