Female officers file class-action lawsuit against 12 municipal police departments in B.C.
Warning: This story contains graphic details that may be disturbing to some.
Six former and current female police officers from B.C. have launched a lawsuit in the B.C. Supreme Court, alleging discrimination, harassment and bullying on the basis of gender and/or sexual orientation.
The lawsuit names 13 cities or districts with municipal police forces, the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner of BC, the King, the B.C. attorney general and minister of public safety and solicitor general of B.C. as defendants.
The lawsuit outlines several incidents in which the female officers were subjected to “unwanted sexual comments” and “unwanted sexual touching” by other officers in the workplace.
Plaintiff Helen Irvine claims she was subjected to workplace sexual harassment at the Delta Police Department. She later quit.
“I have learned that it wasn't just me, there were so many of us, and all of our stories had very common threads,” Irvine told CTV News. “The more we talked, and the more we learned that everybody had tried everything else. And we felt that this was the only option that we had left, and just the magnitude of the problem needed a bigger arena to bring more attention to the issue.”
One of the plaintiffs, Ann-Sue Piper, a constable with the Central Saanich Police Service for 15 years, was allegedly subjected to routine “jokes” about oral sex and was threatened to be “penetrated with a service rifle by a male officer,” according to the lawsuit.
The court document claims Piper made complaints about the harassment she was facing, and those complaints were insufficiently addressed and led to “retaliatory abuse, often at the hands of CSPS management.”
MANAGEMENT ASKS COMPLAINTS TO BE DROPPED: LAWSUIT
Piper’s experience was not unique, as alleged in the lawsuit.
When several of the other plaintiffs say they told the management of their respective police departments about harassment, they were met with “retaliatory abuse” from other officers and management.
One such example is Cary Ryan, a former constable with the West Vancouver Police Department.
“Ms. Ryan was exposed to graphic, misogynistic photographs of a woman on her period, and was routinely exposed to unwanted physical contact and invitations for sex with co-workers,” the lawsuit writes.
It goes on to say that when she complained to the WVPD, management allegedly asked her to “drop her complaints” and sign a document which described her complaints as emotional.
Other examples involving the other plaintiffs allege their complaints were met with “retaliatory abuse” by management, in which they were publicly called out as not being a team player, and given "domestic tasks" such as restocking a cooler with alcoholic beverages.
“Due to a systemic culture of gender and sexual orientation-based harassment and discrimination in the municipal police departments, the representative plaintiffs and other class members were ostracized, belittled and humiliated, and their career advancement prospects limited,” the lawsuit writes.
LATEST INCIDENT
In a recent incident that happened over nearly a two-week period this past August, a framed poster was put in the Vancouver Police Department’s Forensic Identification Unit classroom containing 20 officers’ portraits, including plaintiff Anja Bergler’s and at least seven other female officers, with a tag line, “swabbing penises for over 100 years,” according to the court document.
The lawsuit goes on to write female FIU officers do not perform penile swabs on sexual assault suspects.
ASSAULT VICTIM NOT GIVEN SUPPORT: LAWSUIT
One of the plaintiffs, who CTV News is not identifying as she was a victim of sexual assault, highlights a disturbing allegation.
The woman, who will be referred to by the pseudonym "Susan," was assaulted by another VPD officer, identified in the lawsuit as RB.
“In the days leading up to and weeks following RB’s arrest, the VPD held a number of meetings to plan and organize support for RB, but not for (the victim),” it writes. “VPD also provided legal representation to other officers who were deemed ‘witnesses’ to the assault. However, VPD did not provide any legal representation to (the victim) because she was ‘just the complainant.’"
Susan told CTV News the way she was treated showcases the inherent issues of policing in the province.
“You can't be a victim and wear the uniform,” she said. “They left me with two choices: quit or kill myself. Those are the two choices. That's the system.”
RB was later convicted of the assault and, according to the lawsuit, it was revealed RB had previously been credibly accused of sexual assault against a civilian police employee and the VPD had failed to have in place steps to protect female officers from RB and adequately investigate the credible allegations of assault.
After 16 years on the force, the victim quit the VPD.
CALLS FOR POLICE ACT CHANGES
Some of the plaintiffs told CTV News they would like to see changes made to the province’s Police Act.
“Government created this piece of legislation that is an unbelievably open-ended, powerful piece of legislation. And what they have done is they've created an umbrella for rogue, wrongdoing police officers to be protected at all costs,” Susan said.
The plaintiffs believe it is their duty to shed light on the alleged wrongdoings.
“We enter this profession to make a change, to make a positive change in people's lives,” Lauren Phillips, another plaintiff, told CTV News. “This has all been swept under the rug for way too long. And now it's time to fight back and the gloves are off.”
In an emailed statement, Solicitor General Mike Farnworth wrote, “We are devoted to ensuring that every person who works with municipal police services is working in a safe and respectful environment, free from harassment in any form.”
“As this matter is before the courts, I will not be commenting on this further,” he wrote.
NEXT STEPS
Proceedings are underway to get the complaint certified as a class-action lawsuit, which would mean female municipal police officers automatically join the lawsuit.
Certification may take between 90 days to one year.
The lawsuit claims the municipal police defendants and ministerial defendants negligently breached their duty of care to the plaintiffs and other class members.
It is seeking damages for loss of income – both past and future – loss of promotional opportunities, early resignation and loss of pensions.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The defendants have not filed a response.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.