City grants further leave

Investigation of harassment complaint continues
By Dan Hilborn
Published Sept. 11, 2004


One of Burnaby's first female firefighters has been granted a continued leave of absence while her sexual harassment complaint against the department continues to be investigated.

In a letter faxed to her home on Tuesday, Boni Prokopetz was informed that the City of Burnaby was willing to "engage in discussions of various options and alternatives" that would allow her to return to work.

"This is no victory at all," Prokopetz said Wednesday. "All this (extending her leave) does is lend back to the uncertainty."

Prokopetz is calling on city hall to release the findings of an investigation by lawyer Patricia Janzen into her allegations, and to take appropriate action against any individuals who may be found to have acted improperly.

"Will we get to see this report or have discussions of the findings of this report?" she asked. "If that's what we can do, then I believe we will be able to go forward in this.

"But if there's a continuation of this denial that there's any problem, then I don't foresee success at this time.

"What that means is the individuals that have been responsible for some of these occurrences should be held accountable for their actions. To this point there has been absolutely no recognition of what they've done, and someone being responsible would lend a lot more credibility to their response."

Prokopetz, who started working with the Burnaby Fire Department in October 1993, is alleging systemic harassment and discrimination because of her gender. She is alleging that pornography was frequently passed around city fire halls where she worked, and that she endured derogatory comments including being repeatedly called a "dumb bitch" by a co-worker.

While the incidents apparently subsided after 1998, they allegedly began again after October 2003, when Prokopetz was promoted to captain.

An allegation that she was sexually assaulted by a senior member of the department has been investigated by Burnaby RCMP and passed on to Crown counsel for a decision on whether charges will be laid.

While Prokopetz has the support of several male colleagues, a group of female firefighters has publicly denounced the allegations.

Burnaby city manager Bob Moncur said he expects discussions with Prokopetz and her legal counsel to resume next week. However, he does not believe the City of Burnaby should have to release the contents of its own internal investigation until it files a formal response with the Human Rights Tribunal.

"That report is by a lawyer for the city's information and it will form the basis of our response to her complaint," Moncur said Thursday. "But it's a confidential document between a lawyer and a client, and it's not something to be made public."

Moncur, who admitted the publicity surrounding the case is causing divisions within the fire department, also said this is the first time he knows of that the city has had to respond to a formal human rights complaint.

"Typically, to the extent that there is an issue of this sort, it gets resolved long before it would appear at a tribunal," he said.

Meanwhile, Prokopetz said she has seen little evidence that the city takes the issue of discrimination and harassment seriously.

"We have harassment policies, but make that policy mean something instead of just being a little mantra," she said. "There should be a harassment-free work environment in Burnaby. Let's put that policy in practice and basically enact whatever kind of disciplinary actions that go along with that."

Prokopetz is also worried that the tribunal will be unable to investigate all of her complaints because they are mandated to only look into incidents that have occurred in the past six months, while several of her concerns date back 10 years or more.

She said a series of letters exchanged between her lawyer and the city brought the issue to a head in July.

"What the city came back with was a simple return to work and a claim that sometime in the fall sensitivity training would be provided to certain individuals.

"It was total absolute total disregard of the process we had just gone through. It was shocking. They didn't even acknowledge what had happened to me, and that's when I had to go forward."

Prokopetz said she filed her criminal complaint on July 13 and the human rights complaint on July 16.

"I just think that fixing it would be better than the duck and hide they're trying right now," she said. "It's just terrible the way things have been handled, and terrible the way certain individuals have been treated and disregarded."