London councillor docked month’s pay over ‘pattern of bullying and harassment’ – London | Globalnews.ca
London’s council has voted to sanction a city councillor a month’s pay for ‘harassment, bullying, and targeting’ a city staff member.
Following an investigation, the city’s integrity commissioner found that London, Ont., Coun. Susan Stevenson’s “conduct constitutes harassment, bullying and targeting, and this pattern of behaviour is in contravention of the Code of Conduct.”
On Tuesday, London city councillors voted eight to six in favour of the integrity commissioner’s recommendation to suspend Stevenson’s pay for 30 days.
Under the Municipal Act, upon receipt of a recommendation report from the integrity commissioner, a council may impose a reprimand or a suspension of pay for up to 90 days.
This is the second time the integrity commissioner found that the councillor violated council’s code of conduct.
The investigation stems from a complaint alleging that Councillor Stevenson’s conduct towards administrative staff amounts to harassment that breaches the Council Code of Conduct, the Respectful Workplace Policy and the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
The complaint included a specific incident in which the councillor posted on the social media platform X, attributing homeless encampments to a city staff member identified in the report as Kevin Dickins, deputy city manager of social and health development.
The report says, “An individual Staff member was identified in conjunction with the quote, which the complaint alleged amounted to targeting by the Councillor.”
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The report said, “It has been alleged that the Councillor demonstrates a pattern of behaviour that is inappropriate, unwarranted, unwelcome, unprofessional, not conducive to respectful Council and Staff relations, and is creating a toxic work environment for civic administration.”
Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis argued that 30 days was too harsh and proposed an amended reprimand of only one week, which was later voted down.
“We have taken some steps. I will agree there has been reason to believe there is a pattern here, and this is a second report, but at the same time, I feel that the sanction is going from a reprimand to something that far exceeds what I am comfortable with,” Lewis said.
During the discussion, several councillors said they, too, had felt bullied and that this was not the first offence.
Coun. Anna Hopkins, who supported the sanction, said she had been concerned about safety since the start of their term two years ago.
“I can only imagine how staff must be feeling when it comes to the investigation that has been found, that there is bullying and harassment going on,” Hopkins said.
“I feel that when I sit here as well, there’s that feeling that sometimes I’m not able to even say what I want to say or feeling that I’m a hostage to having to sit through comments.”
Coun. Hadleigh McAlister said, “I do see a pattern of bullying and harassment; I have seen it on numerous occasions.”
“We need to do something to send a signal that we are accountable to the code of conduct we hold our staff to and that we ourselves should also be held to that standard,” McAlister said.
Stevenson questioned the fairness of the integrity commissioner’s report, pointing out that she raised issues about procedural fairness and protocol last year.
She said during an interview that she disagreed with the report, and despite getting the complaint in May and asking for examples, she was only given those in November.
Stevenson said she was never interviewed for the investigation and never asked to take the post naming the staff member down.
One of the instances in question happened during a council meeting, and Stevenson said she did not think it meets the criteria for workplace harassment.
“I have a responsibility to be part of a governing body that gets to ask questions about where the money is spent regarding homelessness and how effectively that is being done,” she said.
“Even in the integrity commissioner’s own words, they said that even with a moderated tone in words and sounding respectful, persistent questions are experienced as harassment. I disagree that you can bully someone sounding respectful and with moderated words and tone.”
Stevenson said she would file a complaint with the Ontario ombudsman for an investigation into the integrity commissioner following his report and bring forward a motion to terminate their contract depending on what is found.
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