Firefighter goes back to work

By Dan Hilborn
Published Jan. 8 , 2005


Burnaby Fire Capt. Boni Prokopetz will return to work on Monday while she waits for an April hearing with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.

Under the terms of a back-to-work agreement reached Wednesday night, Prokopetz will work out of an office separate from the rest of the fire department and report to a 'neutral party' who is not part of her complaint.

"This is a positive step," said Prokopetz, an 11-year veteran of the Burnaby Fire Department who has not worked since she filed her original complaint of sexual discrimination and harassment on Feb. 19, 2004.

"For obvious reasons, I do not want to be reporting to any of the individuals listed in my complaint," she said. "But I am looking forward to returning. I think there's a legitimate mixed sense of emotions behind this.

"I'm happy that in many different aspects of this it seems there will be a resolution. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's coming," Prokopetz said "This is one of the steps that needs to be taken for that resolution."

Last month, the B.C. Human Rights tribunal published a 31-page decision indicating that it will not hear any of Prokopetz's complaints about incidents that occurred prior to July 2003.

However, incidents that occurred during or after July 2003 will be heard when Prokopetz's complaint reaches the tribunal in April.

In September, the provincial Crown counsel office indicated that it did not have enough evidence to file formal charges against any of the individuals named in the complaint.