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Arbitrator upholds discrimination case against Coquitlam school employee

Worker had no motive to falsely accuse co-worker of ‘derogatory’ comments, arbitrator says, in grievance case that upholds district’s harassment and discrimination policy
An arbitrator has upheld discipline against a Pinetree secondary school education assistant
An arbitrator has upheld discipline against a Pinetree secondary school education assistant for making 'derogatory' comments to a co-worker.

An arbitrator has upheld a School District 43 reprimand against an employee for violating its racial discrimination and anti-bullying policies.

In a written decision Oct. 23, arbitrator Joanie McEwen stated that the Coquitlam-area school district was justified in punishing the education assistant for her comments — including saying to her Black co-worker, “at least I am from here.”

At issue was a confrontation between two Pinetree secondary support workers in January, at the Coquitlam high school, that became heated.

On Jan. 24, Millicent Mensah, a Black woman born in Ghana, filed a complaint that described comments made by her colleague, Trisha Sophusson, as rude and racial — “targeting me based on my ethnicity,” she wrote.

After an SD43 investigation, Sophusson was reprimanded and told to act in a respectful and professional manner, including refraining from making negative, critical, and disparaging remarks about other staff members especially on the basis of that staff member’s racial and/or ethnic background.

In its submission to the arbitrator, SD43 wrote that Mensah was devastated by comments made by her co-worker — to the point of having a panic attack, using up her sick days and seeking referral from a psychiatrist.

“She attended counselling and therapy sessions, filed a WorkSafeBC claim — which was accepted — for bullying and harassment, and filed a [pending] Human Rights Tribunal complaint against Sophusson and the employer alleging racial discrimination,” according to SD43 testimony.

It stated that it began an investigation after the Jan. 24 complaint and issued the reprimand on April 6.

CUPE local 561 subsequently grieved the reprimand on Sophusson’s behalf, arguing that her statements were misinterpreted and that Mensah’s testimony lacked credibility, including denying things that happened and her part in the dispute.

The case was heard Sept. 15, 28 and 29, and, after weighing the evidence, McEwen sided with Mensah. 

She agreed, for example, that Sophusson’s remark that Mensah was low on the bar professionally was “clearly derogatory in nature; a remark Mensah took as having been intended to make her feel “less” than she is.”

As for the “at least I am from here,” comment, McEwen stated there was no evidence that Mensah had  a motive for falsely accusing Sophusson “of anything.”

The union local argued that Mensah’s recollection was poor, that she misinterpreted her colleague’s remarks and took no responsibility for the escalation of the confrontation.

In its submission, the union wrote: “The preponderance of probabilities demonstrates that two coworkers made passive-aggressive jabs at each other in a gradually escalating argument. It does not support the proposition, as depicted by Mensah, that an employee with no record of inappropriate conduct launched into an unprovoked tirade against her colleague.” 

But in considering the testimony, McEwen said “the evidence establishes that it was Sophusson, not Mensah, who levelled the insults; it was she who passed judgment, as she had done with others of her co-workers, on Mensah.” 

While she noted the argument was a “tipping point” in relations between the two, she concluded: “Based on the evidence as a whole, I accept the veracity of Mensah’s account.”

School District 43’s personal, discriminatory and sexual harassment policy was last updated in 2016 and is available here.