Harassment allegations mishandled in MJ, says former GM
A scandal consuming Moose Jaw city council stems from allegations of sexual harassment against a now-former city employee, according to the man who brought forward complaints on what the city is officially calling “a serious personnel matter.”
On Monday, council took disciplinary action against three colleagues accused of mishandling the matter: Brian Swanson, Scott Mcmann and Crystal Froese.
A city communication claimed that, as members of the Downtown Facility and Field House (DFFH) Board, they failed to ensure a proper and timely investigation into personnel complaints brought forward by the organization’s thengeneral manager, Graham Edge.
Edge told the Leader-post that he first learned of the complaints days after he took over the DFFH in January.
According to Edge, a woman came forward with “some concerns about harassment, some of it even of a sexual nature” involving an individual working at the DFFH, which includes Mosaic Place and the Yaracentre.
“She let me know that there were more,” he said.
He said a total of eight female employees eventually came forward with allegations against the same individual, all involving sexual harassment.
Edge said the alleged harassment was verbal, not physical, and involved “abuse of a position.” He said it went on for “well over a year,” according to the complainants.
He said he put a report together with his findings and took it to the board. He recommended that the individual be “fired immediately,” according to his recollection of a February meeting.
He said that the board members initially agreed with his recommendation, except for Swanson.
He said the question of the individual’s termination never went to a formal vote.
Swanson took issue with some aspects of that account. In an email response to the Leader-post, he said that Edge “was instructed to investigate the complaints but never brought back a recommendation.”
“I did not ‘shut things down’ and had no ability to do so as I was only one voice out of three on the Board,” Swanson wrote.
Edge said he asked Swanson directly whether the individual could be fired, and was told “I would like for you to give him a second chance.”
The city’s third-party investigator, Joe Dosenberger, wrote that he believed there was a “very strong prima facie case” that the personnel complaints were valid.
He concluded that the board “did not consciously suppress the investigation,” but pointed to numerous failings in the way it followed up on Edge’s concerns.
“The DFFH Board did not exercise the necessary due diligence to ensure the investigation was properly conducted and reported to them in a timely manner,” he wrote.
Swanson is facing the harshest disciplinary sanctions of the three councillors, who, as the board, are accused of “failing to provide appropriate support” to Edge. The city communication, which was released to media on Monday, alleges that they provided conflicting direction and did not take proper minutes of their proceedings.
It calls their conduct “a failure of governance.”
But Swanson is facing a more serious allegation in the city’s communication: That he took confidential documents from the general manager’s office and handed them over to a personal lawyer.
That showed “a profound misunderstanding of his role and responsibility,” according to the communication.
The three remaining members of council decided that he will no longer be able to directly access confidential reports, though documents relating to city council committees will still be available for review at the City Clerk’s Office. The sanctions will remain in effect until the end of his term.
Swanson is also barred from serving as deputy mayor or as chair or vice chair of any standing committee, a penalty that also applies to Froese and Mcmann, though for a shorter period.
Froese is the only one of the three to comment publicly on the matter. She told the Leader-post that she takes “full responsibility” for not following proper procedures. The city communication said she was especially cooperative with a subsequent investigation.
“I cooperated 110 per cent with everything, providing as much information and details as I knew,” Froese said.
“My concern through this whole process has been about the health and well-being of the staff.”
She said the personnel matter was “very complex.” Nonetheless, she said she believes the penalty imposed upon her was fair.
But she declined to comment on the complaints themselves, though she noted that the matter has been “addressed and resolved.” Edge said he believes the individual was dismissed within the past two weeks.
Mcmann declined a request for comment.
The personnel matter came back before the DFFH board during a roughly two-month period after the February meeting, with Edge saying he brought it up on at least three occasions. At one point, Froese went to the city’s human resources department, which recommended an external investigation. But the board did not pursue that option at the time.
Edge was terminated from his position in May.
Events began moving more quickly in July, after text messages from Edge were forwarded to the mayor’s office. That led to numerous private meetings, outside legal advice and a third-party investigation.
Edge said the dispute has left him “basically unhireable.” He added that the city gave him a cease-anddesist order on Wednesday.
But he said he remained concerned for the women he said came to him. He said he believes their stories.
“I can still picture them sitting at my desk with them across from me crying,” said Edge.
“My job was to listen to them hear them and protect them — and I couldn’t do it.”