Glenda Luymes, Vancouver, B.C. (Postmedia News) – Sexual comments, fat jokes and pranks involving toilet paper are the subject of a lawsuit filed Friday in B.C. Supreme Court by a female RCMP officer.
Const. Karen Katz blames harassment and abuse allegedly suffered throughout her career as a Mountie — first at Depot Division in Saskatchewan, then through postings in B.C. — for health problems which include chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and bulimia.
She is now on medical leave from her job in RCMP E Division’s protective services.
Katz’s statement of claim, which contains unproven allegations that have yet to be tested in court, is her second after a sexual harassment suit filed earlier this year. In it, she begins by describing her days in RCMP training in 1989.
“She was required by the officer in charge to go on what was known as fat parade each morning,” reads the lawsuit. “(She) had to appear in front of a number of male corporals and tell them how much she weighed.”
The lawsuit also describes Katz’s interactions in the depot lunch line, where she was allegedly yelled at for selecting a dessert.
“She was called fat in front of the entire cafeteria.”
In an interview Saturday with the Vancouver Province, Katz said she is a meticulous note-taker and has “boxes” of evidence to make her case.
“You know when you’re a target,” she said. Lack of support for a recent shoulder injury and pressure to return to a “toxic” work environment prompted her to file the lawsuit now.
“I’ve had it,” she said. “(The RCMP has) had enough chances to make it better.”
According to her lawsuit, Katz’s first posting was to Prince George, B.C., where her sports car allegedly was toilet-papered and the door handles covered in Vaseline.
Katz also claims her colleagues combined a photo of herself with an officer who had “a reputation with the ladies,” making it appear they were a couple. The photo was then posted in a Prince George newspaper with text announcing their wedding engagement.
The lawsuit says she was the butt of “short jokes”; she recounts being told: “Karen, you are just the right height to put a beer on your head and you can give me a blow job.”
In 1995, after realizing “she had to get out of the Prince George detachment,” she transferred to North Vancouver.
There, according to her lawsuit, the harassment continued.
Katz claims that, shortly after she began her new job, a co-worker posted a fake birth announcement on a bulletin board, saying she was the mother of “Schmemima Schmegma Sims, 6 lbs. 4 oz.”
She also claims she received the nickname “Lady Godiva” from an officer in charge, referring to her long blond hair.
The subject of Katz’s hair features numerous times in the lawsuit. Officers in Prince George allegedly asked if they could touch it, while in North Vancouver a female officer allegedly pulled out some strands while commenting that Katz’s bangs were “disgusting.”
“(Katz) has very long hair which she has carefully cultured over her entire life,” the court documents state. “She is very proud of her hair.”
As the only female in her unit in E-Division, Katz alleges she saw pornography displayed on computers and received comments about her breast implants.
She also alleges that an unfair memo generated during her time in North Vancouver followed her to her new job. The memo said she was “apparently infatuated with outlaw motorcycle gangs” and found “large bearded and scruffy Hells Angels-type men appealing.”
Katz claims the memo was part of a North Vancouver internal investigation into her close ties to biker gangs — allegations that were found to be unsubstantiated.
Katz is the author of four books on outlaw biker gangs. She also has a master’s degree in criminology and law and is pursuing a PhD in law.
Katz is seeking damages for past loss of opportunity and future income loss, plus aggravated and punitive damages for the PTSD and bulimia she claims are a result of the RCMP’s negligence and failure to provide a safe working environment. The lawsuit names both the attorney-general and the B.C. minister of justice as the government bodies responsible for the RCMP.
A statement emailed Saturday by B.C. RCMP Supt. Ray Bernoties said the force had not yet had the opportunity to review Katz’s allegations.
In another pending lawsuit, Katz is alleging sexual abuse by a fellow officer while posted in North Vancouver, claiming he rubbed his genitals against her knee.
Katz is not the first female RCMP officer to come forward with allegations of harassment.
Last year, Cpl. Cate Galliford, who was the RCMP’s spokeswoman on the Air India and Robert Pickton investigations, said she faced sexual harassment from senior officers over the course of her career.
[Source]
There are 2 types of harassment, the above and below board stuff. They have abolished the first type, and I often wonder if that is why the second type seems to thrive.
In regards to the above board Harassment, I don’t have a problem with much of what the Drill staff used to do, that is now categorized as harassment and abuse. Abuse is part of the job. If you don’t want to be abused by the public, than don’t join. I don’t have a problem with pranks. I have no problem with punitive transfers for people who want to waive their “Johnson” over the internet or start trouble in the detachment.
The problem I have is the dishonorable type. That is the the malicious type where lies are spread about others that poison work environments and people. I hate the kind of harassment where people will use harassment complaints to single out people for things that they wouldn’t complain about should someone else do the same thing. I hate when good workers are harassed by bully managers who are on power trips. I hate the kind of harassment where people ignore someone, than label them a social for wanting nothing to do with them. I hate the type of harassment where someone’s life is made Hell and they are given psychological labels denoting a permanent pre existing illness by high school educated folks, when the target is having a normal stress reaction to an abnormal situation. I hate the type of harassment where the lazy gang up on the producers.
I hate how the organization in too many cases assumes and takes at face value that the persecuted are always the ones who are in the wrong.
I hate how the force too often does nothing when they uncover all the things I hate.
Hey sickntired, most of your note I agree with. I have a couple of points to raise.
“With regard to “hog parade” – the RCMP should be saying to applicants “You currently weigh too much to complete training successfully. Please either lose “x” lbs and reapply or be aware that you’ll be placed on an additional fitness program while completing Depot.””
You cannot discriminate against a person for being overweight, even if you are nice about it. A short course in labor law case law will tell you that. We do not even have height and weight restrictions anymore. The same applies to associations. In my early days you could not be from a criminally connected family, nor could you associate with sketchy people lest you find yourself in Tuk, with one foot out the door. I recall being interviewed by an OIC because a relative had been charged with a criminal offense. And why not? Not today however, and we are poorer for it. Is it possible that we lost some potentially good people? Absolutely, but the onus was not on how they were disadvantaged, it was for a greater good of an organization if you will.
As far as drill, so what? Have you ever been called that on the street? Or worse? Being yelled at, insulted, and taken out of your comfort zone is good prep for dealing with morons on the street. I have seen women in tears because some civilian called them some rather inventive epithets. The idea in drill was to enure you to what you are going to see and hear directed towards you negatively while trying to do your job. Why should women be treated differently? If it offends you or makes you cringe, you should not be in the job imho. Maybe there would be fewer cases of alleged excessive force?
Just like all the accident photos, suicide photos, assault photos, train accidents, and car wreck photos in the practice detachment was to let you know what kind of things you could see in your service. Gory? Yes. Gruesome? Yes. Instructive? Very.
Some of the things you do not like are a toned down version of what is was like, that training was legendary for, and made it all the more desirable to not only survive but to excel. Its what made the organization over the decades that people always refer to those Mounties of old. That was all part of what it took. I don’t have much sympathy for whiners who have the entitlement attitude. Katz is obviously from what I saw, not fit to wear the stetson. You do not drive by other members needing backup, or weasel out of calls for service from the public. Oh and guess what? You might even have to stay late without dinner to finish a call. Guess nobody ever told her that. Too busy listening to the tone rather than the content.
Interesting case.
I don’t know Katz but based solely on this news article it seems to me that this woman perhaps wasn’t an ideal candidate for the RCMP. Having said that the RCMP failed to handle her issues properly.
The hair issue is easily dealt with, regardless of how long it is or how proud she is of it. She knew when she got in what the hair regs were. If she won’t cut it or wear it up as per regs she gets 1004s, it goes on her assessment, etc etc. No supervisor should be telling her its “disgusting”. They should be telling her, in a private meeting, that it doesn’t conform to regs, and documenting the conversation. Again a lot of supervisors find it easier to be insulting or to embarrass members than to document and proceed by the manual.
The border-crossing issue should have been easily dealt with by management, as well as hanging out with HA associates. The memo on her personnel file is poorly written. Instead of sticking to the facts (”Cst. Katz has been cautioned about her relationship/contacts whatever with …. and has stated that … ) the memo writer has made vague judmental statements: “apparently infatuated with outlaw motorcycle gangs” and found “large bearded and scruffy Hells Angels-type men appealing.” Katz can claim harassment all see wants – that’s her right – but if management has done their job properly, made their expectations of her clear, and documented the process factually and accurately she will fail.
With regard to “hog parade” – the RCMP should be saying to applicants “You currently weigh too much to complete training successfully. Please either lose “x” lbs and reapply or be aware that you’ll be placed on an additional fitness program while completing Depot.” If by the end the cadet hasn’t lost enough weight or improved their fitness levels enough to obtain the fitness levels required to graduate they don’t graduate. Belittling, name-calling and bullying recruits to lose weight, whether sexually based or not, is illegal as well as childish, petty and generally unsuccessful. Unfortunately its the sort of practice that has prevailed at Depot for decades. Its not helpful or productive but its easy to get away with. My troop was once told, by our drill Corporal (at the top of his lungs), “When you ladies come to attention I want to hear 32 cunts snap together.” Later, upset by one recruits performance, he shoved her and knocked her onto the floor. Harassment? Yep. Sexual? Yep. Assault? Yep. Any of it helpful in training our troop? Nope, he just did it because he could.
These are the sorts of attitudes and actions that damage good members and also allow not-so-good members to win harassment suits.
With this case I would like to look into a lot more things before I reserve judgment. If I believe someone was singled out and treated maliciously and unfair, I am the first person to speak up about it. But, I find some of what she says is troubling.
As far as “Hog Parade” is concerned she wasn’t singled out… Plenty of men had to do this and I am sure women as well. Should sex make a difference here? It should have been explained to new recruits that this will be taking place and if they don’t like it don’t sign up.
There have been countless jokes played on members in the past, not unlike some of what she articulates. But, some of it sounds like it was in good fun. One of my favorites I heard of was when a female member took the spare set of keys to a squad car parked at a local rink, rolled down the window down and put some broken window glass over the car seat, and took the radar set out. Of course the guy freaked out when he saw this and nearly had a heart attack. But, should we make this into a sexual issue as well? I say no.
Because a lot of things over the years have been done in good fun to build camaraderie, I think I really think there are a lot of other things that should be examined before anyone can conclude that all of this had malicious intent.
This individual has been on “stress leave” for several years. During this time she has gotten her education on taxpayer dollars. A fact she will impart on anyone who will listen citing how easy the “system” is. Stopped by CBSA at the border and tried to get through by flashing her badge claiming she was working. From the back end of motorcycle, driven by a Hells Angel associate. Questioned on her “associations” she claimed intimidation/harassment by the OIC and NCO’s. Regulations say that you have to wear your hair up when working due to safety issues. Sorry about the hair, I would like to groom mine for decade too.
This is also the person who claimed the CIA was working with the RCMP to discredit her. Thanks for degrading policewomen, wasting taxpayer dollars and God knows what else.
This kind of lets cash in on nothing attitude makes me angry. We should be suing her for not earning her paycheck. So do the taxpayers get a cut on her “books” royalties?