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N.S. hospital workers awarded damages in bullying case

Posted by Ross Arrowsmith on Thursday, December 20th 2007 under Workplace bullying   
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from CBC News

A group of workers at Nova Scotia’s largest hospital who complained of being bullied have been awarded $10,000 in a decision their union calls “groundbreaking.”

The employees of the Capital District Health Authority work in a department where donated tissue is retrieved and distributed.

“There was sexual harrassment. There was inappropriate comments. People were very uncomfortable. Their job security was threatened quite often,” said Joan Jessome, president of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union.

Jessome said 17 of the 25 people who work at the tissue bank complained about their work environment, which was attributed to a manager who is no longer with the health district.

The grievance dragged on for nearly two years until earlier this month, when arbitrator Susan Ashley handed down a decision.

Ashley found the workplace environment was so bad that she ordered the CEO of the health authority to write a letter of apology to the employees involved and awarded the group $10,000 in damages.

“For her to make an award of $10,000 to a workplace for them to decide what to do, that’s unheard of, that’s groundbreaking,” Jessome said.

The employees are free to spend the money how they want. Those who were forced off the job because of harassment will have their sick time reinstated and will be compensated for lost overtime.

When contacted by CBC News, the former manager was unaware of the arbitration, but disagreed with the characterization of the workplace and declined to comment.

Officials with the Capital District Health Authority would not discuss this specific case, but said the health district does not tolerate workplace bullying.

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