Acts of Founded Wrongdoing
On 16 November 2017, the departmental Internal Disclosure Office (IDO) received a disclosure of wrongdoing pursuant to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA) pertaining to alleged wrongdoings by a Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) member. Specifically, the following allegations were made:• Gross mismanagement – It was alleged that the CAF member, who was the Responsible Officer (RO) in charge of a workplace harassment/violence investigation, had unlawfully inserted themself into a situation for which they were the RO.• A serious breach of the DND/CAF Code of Values and Ethics – It was alleged that the CAF member made an inappropriate decision based on specious information.The subsequent investigation conducted by the Directorate of Special Examinations and Inquiries (DSEI) concluded that:• The RO failed to comply with the Canada Labour Code’s specific direction on the distribution of the final workplace harassment/violence investigation report in an acceptable timeframe.• The RO failed to appropriately respond to the discloser’s request for information in respect to obtaining a copy of the final report contrary to the Canada Labour Code’s specific directions.• Appropriate corrective action was not taken as a result of the workplace harassment/violence investigations.
The investigation report contained the following recommendations:
• Relevant senior leadership consider taking steps to restore workplace relations, if appropriate.
• Relevant senior leadership review the workplace harassment/violence investigation report and consider if there are findings and/or recommendations that require action, if not already completed.
The DND Senior Officer for Internal Disclosure (SOID) has informed the CAF chain of command of the findings of the DSEI investigation so that appropriate action could be taken. No further action is required.