Court upholds ban over ‘racist’ emails
B.C. WILDLIFE FEDERATION: Suspended vice-president says he’s victim of ‘witch hunt’ by organization
The B.C. Wildlife Federation has suspended one of its vice-presidents for three months on the grounds he sent inappropriate sexual and racist emails to individuals at the hunting and fishing organization’s headquarters in Surrey.
A federation submission to B.C. Supreme Court outlining the suspension of Ed George of Langley states: “The emails contained highly inappropriate, explicit and degrading sexual content. The emails also contained highly offensive racist, discriminatory content as well as religious bigotry aimed at the Muslim community.”
While George has denied any wrongdoing, saying he’s the victim of a “witch hunt,” Justice Robert Punnett has dismissed the vicepresident’s petition seeking to overturn his suspension. Reasons for judgment are to follow later.
Contacted at his home, George said: “There’s a whole lot more than meets the eye, but I don’t know whether anyone wants it to play out in the paper.”
In his petition to the court, George said he’s been a member of the federation since about 1994 and a director since 2006. He was elected as one of two vice-presidents on April 22, 2014, for a two-year term, expiring at the next annual general meeting.
He’d asked the court to declare his suspension unlawful and that federation bylaws contradicted the Society Act.
Cheryl Johnson, the federation’s director of operations, did not respond to repeated requests for an interview and for copies of the emails that led to the suspension. Federation president George Wilson also did not respond.
The federation’s court submission states that in August 2015 Johnson become aware of “highly inappropriate and offensive emails” that George had sent to at least two staffers — a man no longer with the federation and a woman—over at least a nine-month period.
When interviewed by the federation, the female employee said she was uncomfortable with the emails but did not ask for them to stop and did not file a complaint, the submission states.
The federation concluded that George’s actions constituted a “serious breach of his director duties and obligations” and warranted disciplinary action, the submission continues.
George insisted he’d done nothing wrong and was the victim of “witch hunt,” the federation submission states. He sought a full written apology. He denied that the emails represented sexual harassment and blamed a lack of federation policy.
He also ignored a federation directive not to contact the woman again.
The federation gave George the option of voluntarily stepping down by Jan. 21, but he failed to do so, the BCWF legal submission states. The board met Jan. 22 and voted 12-5 in favour of suspending George for the rest of his elected term, ending April 23.
He can run for re-election at the forthcoming annual general meeting.