VIBERT: ‘MOVING ON’ SHOULDN’T BE AN OPTION HERE

A woman was bullied by more senior men at work. She was a rising star. Rather than put an end to the abuse, the boss sided with the bullies, then joined in.

The woman didn’t back down, so she was punished, her reputation was ruined, the project she’d given her heart and soul was destroyed. Still, she stood her ground as they ground her down. She wouldn’t leave. She needed to work, and the phony allegations heaped against her would follow her wherever she went anyway.

Finally, after four years, her employer lifted her unjust punishment, but the damage to her reputation and her work was done. She had no choice. She sued.

Her employer has those deep pockets lawyers love. So, on it dragged for another 10 torturous years before the case got to a jury.

The trial was long. The judge set the bar high. She had to prove her employer acted in bad faith, with malice even, that the actions against her were taken out of spite, ill will, with an unjust intent to harm.

The jury said that’s exactly what happened.

What foul outfit would do this to a bright young woman early in a promising career? Who is this vile employer? The bad news is, essentially, it’s you and me.

Specifically, it started with Capital Health, but they, and now the Nova Scotia Health Authority, act in our behalf and use our money to pay the lawyers that dragged her agony over 15 years.

What was done to Dr. Gabrielle Horne could be done again, to another bright rising star who won’t go along to get along.

Last week, Nova Scotia’s highest court upheld the jury’s finding. The health bureaucracy acted in bad faith to cause significant damage to Dr. Horne’s reputation. The orderly process of decision-making in a critical health organization fundamentally broke down. Old-fashioned cronyism was the rot at the root, and rather than pull the weed the powerful nurtured its malignant growth.

And now, the Nova Scotia Health Authority, which subsumed Capital Health, says, and the government concurs, that this was a long process. There’s nothing more to see here, so let’s move on. Hold on a minute.

If we allow them to just move on we are complicit in their injustice.

The insensitive statement from the health authority is a self-indictment. This was Gabby Horne’s ordeal. Capital HealthCUM-NSHA made it so, and as the author of the injustice they should not offend us further with an exasperated sigh over the long process that she endured at their hands.

There must be an accounting, starting with the money. How much was spent to persecute Gabby Horne? Lawyers don’t talk about such things publicly, but several agree that the total legal forces arrayed against Gabby Horne, from 2002 to present, cost taxpayers something north of $10 million.

After fessing up to flushing millions in a fit of spite, the health bureaucracy needs to prove this can’t happen again. Because right now it can. What’s to stop it?

The appeal court revised the damages downward, from $1.4 million to $800,000 on a fine legal point, but it’s still the largest award for reputation damage in Canadian history. That’s not a record to be proud of, given that Nova Scotia public entities did the damage.

Don’t expect much from your elected representatives. The Tories were in government when the fiasco began, the NDP and the Liberals let it continue.

But if there is a sense of decency in this province – and there is – this will not go away before that full accounting. And not until someone in authority says, “Dr. Horne, we did you a terrible injustice and we are truly and unreservedly sorry.” Gabby Horne chose Nova Scotia. She brought us her immense talent and intellect as a heart disease researcher. When she refused to play by the old boys’ rules, she was trampled under a publicly funded legal stampede.

With support from the many colleagues who stood with her, and neighbours who know her, Gabby Horne survived. Few would.

Bad faith means you can’t be trusted. Malice says your motive was odious. Jury and judges saw those qualities in our health delivery system.

The courts have spoken, but justice demands more.

Let’s move on? Not a chance.