Un Mountie is taking the national police to court over a harassment complaint that she says was improperly dismissed by the RCMP’s new independent complaints system.
Nicole Patapoff, an eight-year RCMP veteran, initiated a federal court judicial review March 17 against a decision by the Independent Center for Harassment Resolution.
According to court documents, the alleged incident occurred on June 8, 2021. Patapoff was completing mandatory firearms training and evaluation when, she claims, the commanding officer harassed her with statements that were “misogynistic, demeaning, offensive, disrespectful, degrading.” and unnecessary.”
The court request alleges that RCMP line officer Paul Christensen told Patapoff to “go home, get a bottle of Windex and get into [her] kitchen and bathroom” and begins cleaning “to strengthen his trigger finger.”
The comment came after Patapoff refused to practice firing his weapon without ammunition before a test, in order to conserve energy.
The RCMP officer passed the test but, according to court documents, “sexist, misogynistic and highly inappropriate” behavior continued in the parking lot.
As she walked to her car, the documents say, Christensen followed her, calling out her name from about 25 yards away, then loudly commenting, “I didn’t even recognize you!”
“Wow!” Patapoff says that he told her. “I love your hair!”
The comments made her “feel very uncomfortable.”
On August 1, 2021, Patapoff filed a complaint with the IACHR. This new system, heralded as “an important step in tackling harassment and violence in the workplace”, had been launched a month earlier.
The Regina-based litigant, Rodger Linka, was appointed by the IACHR to review the complaint. Six months later, Linka dismissed the complaint, saying it did not meet the “definition of harassment.”
In his recommendations to the RCMP, Linka wrote that the force is “well on its way to significant change in operation,” adding: “During this transition, old-style actions and commentary will inevitably be used and this will continue in the future. “. future and hopefully less as members become better educated.”
“This decision is deaf,” said Patapoff’s attorney, Sebastien Anderson.
The labor rights lawyer criticized the IHRC: “New name, new process, same result. There hasn’t been any substantial change.”
Patapoff’s judicial review says Linka’s “conclusion is fatally flawed or unreasonable.”
It says the investigator did not follow the Canadian Labor Congress definition of harassment adopted by the RCMP as “any action, conduct or comment, including of a sexual nature, which could reasonably be expected to cause offence, humiliation or other physical or psychological injury or illness to an employee, including any prescribed action, conduct or comment.”
Linka did not respond to an interview request from CTV News.
Shortly after Patapoff received the decision, the IACHR told him that Linka “had been removed from the list of investigators approved to investigate complaints.”
“The RCMP cannot discuss the individual situations of RCMP members,” Robin Percival of the RCMP National Communications Services wrote in an email. “In addition, the information we can offer is limited at this time as the matter is before the court.”
According to the National Police Federation Annual Report 2022, there have been 700 complaints through this new RCMP harassment resolution system since it came into effect almost two years ago.
Two hundred of those cases have been concluded and 175 have yet to be assigned to an investigator. The report says there are concerns about the “timeliness, quality of investigations and investigators.”
The IACHR also received authorization to hire more investigators to address “the significant accumulation of files.”
“The RCMP takes all allegations of harassment and discrimination seriously and is committed to promoting a safe and respectful workplace,” Percival wrote in a statement. “We continue to encourage anyone who feels they are the victim of inappropriate behavior to report it.”