RCMP face second lawsuit
SEXUAL HARASSMENT: 27-year veteran leads class-action
Linda Davidson “fell in love” with the idea of becoming a cop in the early 1980s.
Over a 27-year career with the RCMP, she rose to the rank of inspector — the ninth female Mountie to do so — and landed a gig on the prime minister’s protective detail.
“I loved every second of being on that detail,” she gushed to a local Ontario newspaper, the Huntsville Forester, shortly after retiring in October 2012. “I loved the excitement, I loved the travel, I loved the life that went on around it, the meeting of new people and visits to new countries.”
But that glowing account masked what she now says was an ugly truth — that for most of her career, she was subjected to bullying and belittling from male officers that left her mentally anguished and even suicidal.
The harassment, she alleges in court papers, took many forms: unwanted grabbing and kissing; crude jokes, including the placement of ketchup-stained tampons in her locker; and constant questioning about her sexual orientation and abilities.
“I experienced this treatment irrespective of my detachment, posting, rank or seniority,” she wrote in an affidavit. “I never felt that I could rely on senior officers to protect me.”
The Bracebridge, Ont., mother, who now runs a security firm, is the lead plaintiff in a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging systemic gender-based harassment and discrimination in the RCMP — the second such lawsuit to hit the force in recent years. Though it was filed in Ontario Superior Court last spring, the lawsuit has gone largely unnoticed.
It is definitely on the radar of police brass.
In a briefing document sent to the new public safety minister in November and obtained by the National Post under access-toinformation laws, RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson listed “harassment litigation” as one of his top challenges, citing Davidson’s proposed class action, as well as one filed earlier in B.C. by former Const. Janet Merlo.
While the force has implemented a number of respectful-workplace initiatives, recruited more women and promoted more women to senior positions, “the memory of a publicly floundering RCMP, following a succession of very significant shortcomings, is not yet distant enough in the minds of those we serve,” Paulson wrote.
“Therefore, we continue to maintain a sense of urgency in our ongoing efforts toward transforming the force into a modern, professional, national police force.”
The harassment and discrimination that Davidson faced “forced her to leave an organization she loved, and led to the premature end of a distinguished career,” her lawyer Megan McPhee said in an email.
None of her allegations has been tested in court. A statement of defence has not been filed and the RCMP declined to comment.
Davidson’s claim seeks $500 million in damages. Her lawyer says the number is based on the roughly 10,000 women who have been on the force.
An application to certify the B.C. case as a class action was argued last year and awaiting a decision.
A certification hearing in Davidson’s Ontario case is set for May.