POLICE UNDER SCRUTINY
Female officer alleges sexism, discrimination
A female officer repeatedly passed over for promotion says she is a victim of gender-based discrimination at the Windsor Police Service, a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario heard this week.
Staff Sgt. Christine Bissonnette filed a human rights complaint after she failed to be promoted to inspector in 2015 and 2016. At her hearing Friday, Bissonnette argued she was just as qualified as the men who got promotions. But, she said, there is “systemic discrimination” at the force that keeps her down.
Bissonnette was hired as a cadet in 1987. She was promoted, she said, but it became obvious she would advance no further.
“You have to understand the culture of this organization,” she told the hearing adjudicator after the police service’s lawyer repeatedly objected to Bissonnette’s examples.
Bissonnette said male officers were hand-picked by the brass to receive specialized training that made them eligible to sit on panels that rate candidates for promotion. The training, Bissonnette said, gave these officers insider knowledge that helped them succeed when they competed for their own promotions.
Bissonnette said that after she became Windsor’s first polygraph examiner in 1995, she was transferred to the criminal investigations division. She said it was clear the senior constables there did not want a female officer in their midst. She was then transferred to the special investigations unit, which handles sexual-assault cases, she said.
The police service’s lawyer, Suzanne Porter, objected to Bissonnette bringing up issues that predate her complaint to the hearing.
“It’s what happened,” Bissonnette responded. “It’s what I’ve been subjected to in my employment.”
Bissonnette said she was eventually transferred to the chief ’s office where she became an executive officer. During her time there, she revamped court security, finding cost savings for the city. She also drafted police policy about cellphone use.
She was made a staff sergeant after being previously passed over for the position. She said she was promoted because the chief had permission from the police services board to go “over-strength” on the rank, allowing him to appoint one more staff sergeant than the usual complement.
Bissonnette said she and other women on the force have been harassed, singled out and ostracized. Other women were promoted because they didn’t complain like she did, she claimed.
She said one of her superiors once told her, “Be careful on the battles you pick.” Another said, “Movement is more based on popularity than performance.”
Mayor Drew Dilkens attended the hearing Thursday and popped in briefly Friday. Chief Al Frederick has been in attendance too. Friday, he read from a prepared statement after the hearing adjourned for the day.
“The Windsor Police Service takes these allegations very seriously and respects the rights of the complainant and the due process provided by the hearing,” Frederick said. But, he added, “The Windsor Police Service denies these allegations and intends to vigorously defend the integrity and impartiality of the promotional process and those responsible for administering the process.”
He said the force “stands by all members who have competed and achieved promotion in these processes.”
You have to understand the culture of this organization. It’s what I’ve been subjected to in my employment.
The service has yet to submit any evidence at the hearing.
Bissonnette, who is currently on leave, told the hearing she recorded a conversation she had with Deputy Chief Rick Derus after she was passed over for promotion. Adjudicator Bruce Best said he wants to consider written argument from both sides before deciding whether Bissonnette can use it as evidence when the hearing resumes on dates yet to be selected in April or May.