Migrants endured ‘sexually poisoned’ workplace: tribunal
TORONTO — The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has awarded more than $200,000 to two sisters from Mexico, saying the two temporary foreign workers had been subjected to a “sexually poisoned work environment” by their employer.
Several migrant worker advocates said the ruling shows that the temporary foreign worker program creates conditions that allow for worker exploitation to go unchecked.
The case was originally filed with the tribunal in April 2009 by the CAW-Canada union, now known as Unifor, on behalf of 39 workers employed by a southwestern Ontario fish processing company called Presteve Foods.
Following a criminal proceeding, and after the disputes between the other applicants and the company were resolved, only the two sisters, who can’t be named, remained in the human rights case against the company and its former owner, Jose Pratas.
One of the women, known as O.P.T, alleged between 2007 and 2008 Pratas repeatedly threatened to send her back to Mexico if she didn’t comply with his sexual demands which included fellatio and intercourse. The other woman, known as M.P.T., alleged Pratas, who was married at the time, “sexually propositioned” her on multiple occasions and also threatened to send her back to Mexico.
In his ruling, adjudicator Mark Hart noted O.P.T’s rights violations were particularly significant. “I find that the personal respondent engaged in a persistent and ongoing pattern of sexual solicitations and advances toward O.P.T. during the period of her employment with Presteve,” he wrote. “It is my view that the seriousness of this conduct is unprecedented in terms of this tribunal’s previous decisions.”
Hart noted that as temporary foreign workers, both women were reliant upon their employers and had to live under the “everpresent threat” of having their employer decide to terminate their position.
He also highlighted O.P.T’s testimony in which she spoke about how much Pratas’s actions had “hurt her as a woman and a person.” A lawyer for Pratas could not immediately be reached for comment.
A lawyer for Presteve Foods said the current owners of the company, who have run operations since 2010, were “in no way connected” to the events detailed in the decision.
Erik Grzela said the company’s current owners were “committed to respecting human rights and dignity in and out of the workplace.”
The tribunal awarded $150,000 in compensation plus $14,957 in interest to be paid to O.P.T, while $50,000 in compensation plus $4,658 in interest was awarded to M.P.T.
Presteve Food, located in Wheatley, Ont., east of Windsor, was also ordered to provide any workers hired under the temporary foreign worker program with human rights training in their native language.
O.P.T urged women in similar situations not to stay silent. “There is justice and they should not just accept mistreatment or humiliation. Under the temporary foreign worker program, the boss has all the power — over your money, house, status. They have you tied to their will,” she said. “It has been eight years to obtain justice but … justice is finally here.”