RCMP responds to long list of sexual harassment complaints
Posted November 8, 2011 4:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – We’re hearing from the RCMP for the first time since a prominent BC Mountie went public with a long list of sexual harassment complaints Monday night.
Supt. Kevin DeBruyckere isn’t talking about the case specifically, but says sexual harassment is not tolerated.
“The RCMP is committed to providing all its employees a work environment free of harassment, discrimination and conflict, where all employees are treated with respect and dignity,” DeBruyckere said in a statement.
“We continue to encourage our members to report incidents of harassment when they occur so they can be investigated immediately.”
Const. Catherine Galliford, who handled media for the Robert Pickton case, told the CBC a supervisor on the Missing Women’s Task Force exposed himself to her.
She also claims another supervisor on the Air India Task Force kept taking her on unnecessary business trips with the intention of trying to have sex with her.
The complaint she filed is 115 pages long.
She hasn’t worked since 2007.
During the four years she’s been off of the job, she’s turned to drinking and has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, agoraphobia and chemical dependency.
DeBruyckere says the RCMP has programs to help employees with mental health issues.
“The RCMP is very concerned with the health and welfare of its employees and ensuring a safe and timely return to work,” DeBruyckere said. “There are inherent risks in policing, both physically and psychologically.
“Police officers may be involved in car accidents, foot pursuits, and physical altercations with some of the most violent people in society. Police officers are also regularly exposed to traumatic incidents which the average citizen may only be exposed to once, if at all, in their lifetime.”
Galliford isn’t the first woman to make a sexual harassment complaint about a supervising officer in the Lower Mainland.
Earlier this year, 13-year RCMP veteran Susan Gastaldo sued a senior supervisor who she claims misused his authority to sexually assault her and force her into an intimate relationship.
