RCMP ordered to pay harassed sergeant

TORONTO — Senior RCMP officers harassed a sergeant mercilessly and damaged his career after deciding he had lied to them about his unsuccessful bid to run for the federal Conservatives in 2005, an Ontario judge has ruled.

In awarding Sgt. Peter Merrifield $141,000 for his mistreatment, Superior Court Justice Mary Vallée denounced the RCMP’s conduct as egregious.

“The defendants had a reckless disregard of causing the plaintiff to suffer emotional distress. His emotional distress was severe,” Vallée wrote in her 174-page decision. “The defendants’ outrageous conduct was the actual and proximate cause of the plaintiff’s emotional distress.”

Merrifield, who joined the RCMP in 1998, said that after he took part in a Tory nomination meeting in Barrie, Ont., his superiors began a seven-year campaign to damage his reputation that included punitive transfers and unfounded accusations he had committed criminal offences.

He said his superiors secretly investigated him, audited his expenses, blocked him from taking part in sensitive investigations, bad-mouthed him to confidential informants, and bullied him, among other things, by accusing him of using the police force to advance his political career.

Merrifield testified that one of his superiors, Supt. Marc Proulx, was critical of various Conservative policies on the firearms registry and the definition of marriage. Someone also leaked confidential information about him to the media.

“I did not join to fight liars and bullies inside the RCMP,” Merrifield wrote to a superior at one point.

The father of three, who said he had always been upfront about his political views and activities, sued Proulx, Insp. James Jagoe and the RCMP for various damages. He said he had been forced to take medical leaves to deal with depression and stress of the situation.

The Mounties, for their part, argued Merrifield had violated regulations, although he was never formally disciplined. They also maintained that they considered him a valued and skilled officer whose career suffered no harm.

Vallée rejected Merrifield’s assertion that he was punished for expressing his political views in violation of his constitutional rights. Instead, she said his superiors believed he had lied when he said he would not be running in an election.

The RCMP said they will review the decision.