The NEW NORM

On the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) home page of the Government of Canada website, you’ll read that “The Canadian Human Rights Act…states that all Canadians have the right to equality, equal opportunity, fair treatment and an environment free of discrimination.” It doesn’t appear that was the case for employees of the tribunal under their previous chair, Shirish Chotalia.

An Edmonton lawyer, Chotalia was appointed to that top job in 2009. Staff there might have clued in to what they were up against when an earthquake struck the Ottawa area as Chotalia was organizing her own swearing-in ceremony. “Ms. Chotalia ordered her employees, through her assistant, to remain inside the building and did not take any measures to address employees’ concerns in regard to a possible evacuation of the building after the earthquake.”

That incident was just the beginning of matters about to rumble the tribunal, according to Mario Dion, the public sector integrity commissioner. Dion tabled a report in April, 2013 to the speaker of the House of Commons (no less) about the allegations of “wrongdoings” at the tribunal under Chotalia’s watch.

From the report, Dion wrote:

“The investigation found that Ms. Chotalia committed gross mismanagement in the public sector by: 

• harassing and abusing staff and members of the CHRT through intimidating and aggressive behaviour and making inappropriate comments;
• disregarding advice from her staff and from the Shared Human Resources Services (SHRS) of the CHRT; and
• creating a dysfunctional workplace for employees and members of the CHRT that potentially jeopardized the ability of the CHRT to fulfill its mandate.”

Although the investigator interviewed twenty-six witnesses, Chotalia refused many requests to respond to the allegations made in the complaint. And when the investigator first approached her, she framed it as a conspiracy against her because “I was chosen by a Conservative government, I am a brown woman from Alberta and the unions want to remove me.”

Even though Ms. Chotalia should have known better, she probably could have benefited from taking my Respectful Workplace online course, where we learn to treat employees much better and certainly to avoid a toxic workplace filled with bully behaviour.

While the investigation did not find support for Chotalia’s conspiracy theory, they did find many things she did wrong. All of these are direct quotes (and only a sampling of them) from the integrity commissioner’s report:

• Ms. Chotalia frequently yelled insults and directed defamatory comments at a member, questioning his competencies and bringing up issues about this person’s health and capacity to work in the presence of other employees.
• Evidence and witness testimony demonstrated that Ms. Chotalia, without valid reason, ordered staff to spy on an employee while at work and to report that employee’s movements and actions to her.
• The evidence also demonstrated that Ms. Chotalia unjustifiably maintained a secret file on an employee, entitled “Insubordination of (Name and Title Withheld),” even though the employee had never been advised of any problems.
• Ms. Chotalia retaliated against employees at all levels who either did not accept her wishes or defended others against her verbal abuse.
• Ms. Chotalia regularly made unreasonable requests of individuals that were not in keeping with their duties, such as working outside regular work hours, being available around the clock by Blackberry without additional compensation, and in one case, requiring an individual to carry a set of keys to the office around their neck despite the fact that this person complained that this caused discomfort and pain. She also asked individuals to come to work when on sick leave and to work while on holidays.
• Ms. Chotalia frequently talked about the difficulties of her position and complained about how hard she was working, insinuating that others were not working as hard as she was.
• Ms. Chotalia spoke about not trusting her employees and frequently accused some of stealing items from her, such as documents or binders, when she was unable to locate them. Many witnesses stated that she regularly lost these items. She also claimed that the information and technology group was spying on her and reading her emails.

A previous independent investigation found similar inappropriate behaviours, stating that she sometimes engaged in “baffling if not bizarre” behaviours.

Ms. Chotalia went on stress leave in April 2012, never returning to her post, and resigned in November of that year, just months before the report was tabled in the House of Commons. Ms. Chotalia went back to practising law in Edmonton.

Shirish Chotalia

The OLD NORM

• lets power go to her head.
• when in charge will do whatever he wants, regardless of the consequences or impact on staff.
• thinks any comments or criticisms that might challenge her authority should be met with ridicule and humiliation.
• believes that under all circumstances he is right and everyone else is wrong.

The NEW NORM

• may think he has all the answers, but wakes up to reality when it appears it’s him against everyone else.
• will listen to those around her when told she has gone too far.
• realizes there is something wrong with her leadership style when she loses good people.
• eventually listens to others at work, especially those who don’t have an axe to grind.

01

Don’t ever treat people like that.

02

If someone treats you like that, run, don’t walk, to get help.

03

If “baffling if not bizarre” behaviour persists, get out.

“Stephen’s book is a brilliant reminder of workplace situations that are disturbing, yet slip by unaddressed by so many in both the private and public sector. When these behaviours are unaddressed, they become the norm because we allow them to be.

Just like his first book, Stephen is insightful, his writing is moving and he inspires his readers to take immediate action to disapprove of, and address harassment and other inappropriate behaviour every time we see it, feel it and hear about it. In a concise format, he gives us a series of snapshots of old vs. new, acceptable vs. unacceptable, right vs. wrong, in a way that is understandable.

If workplace leaders take just some of Stephen’s practical advice, they will go a long way to rid their workplace of unacceptable behaviours such as harassment, discrimination and bullying. It’s clear that to create Stephen’s “New Norm,” we need to ACT NOW! We can’t wait any longer.”

Tatjana Zatezalo

Manager, Organizational Development, Halifax Regional Municipality