Workplace Violence News

By Jessica Lussenhop

Joe Henry hated his boss so much, he would’ve preferred his old Army drill sergeant.

“A drill sergeant is consistently one way,” he says. “You know you’re going to get yelled at no matter what.”

Henry, a barrel-chested man with military posture, joined the Army at age 18 and deployed with one of the first battalions to enter Iraq in March 2003. He served a seven-month tour locating weapons caches and maintaining communications lines. A fellow vet remembers Henry as a reliable soldier — steady under the sound of constant gunfire.

For Henry, it turned out wartime was easier to handle than a job in satellite TV installation.

After he returned home, Henry began working as a manager for Dish Network. Six months into the job, his days began to start with the same strange ritual. He’d hit the alarm and lie there, wrestling with the urge to call in sick.

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By Lyndsay A. Wasser

The recent introduction of requirements for policies and procedures relating to harassment and workplace violence in Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”) has increased the regulatory workload on employers. However, a recent decision by the Ontario Labour Relations Board (the “Board”) appears to limit to some extent the scope of an employer’s added responsibilities.

In K. Annette Harper v Ludlow Technical Products Canada Ltd., an employee alleged that she was harassed at her workplace by co-workers who had circulated a petition regarding her activities in relation to a product safety issue. She complained to her employer, and then notified the Board that her employer had allegedly failed to investigate her concerns or comply with company procedure for the investigation of harassment complaints. The employee also claimed that, after filing a complaint with the Board, her employer had refused to appropriately process her claims for short-term disability or WSIB benefits in alleged violation of section 50 of the OHSA, which prohibits reprisals against an applicant by his or her employer.

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