Arbitrator upholds NAIT's decision to fire instructor over sexual harassment of 3 workers
CBC
Warning: This article contains detailed descriptions of sexual harassment
The Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT) was right to fire an employee who repeatedly sexually harassed three co-workers, an arbitrator has ruled.
NAIT fired Dwayne Rurka, a co-ordinator of evening and weekend programs in the School of Applied Sciences and Technology, on Aug. 19, 2019.
In Rurka's termination letter, NAIT said it had investigated and concluded that he had "repeatedly, and without consent, made unwanted comments and/or jokes to three employees that were sexual in nature, or had sexual connotations or undertones, while in the workplace."
The letter also said Rurka subjected two employees to "unwanted touching while in the workplace."
The NAIT Academic Staff Association (NASA), the union representing the school's more than 850 academic workers, filed a grievance on Rurka's behalf.
Following a hearing last year, arbitrator Greg Francis dismissed the grievance, saying NAIT's decision to dismiss Rurka was the just and reasonable response to his harassment of his colleagues.
"The evidence against the grievor is simply overwhelming," Francis wrote in a Jan. 19 decision.
Rurka, who is 54 and lives in St. Albert, started working as an instructor at NAIT in September of 1998.
In May 2017, he became an evening and weekend delivery co-ordinator, which involved scheduling instructors, finding new instructors, purchasing and other duties.
NAIT argued at the hearing that Rurka, who was in a leadership position, had a pattern of sexual harassment for which he failed to accept responsibility.
One of NAIT's witnesses, a temporary employee who worked with Rurka, said he made inappropriate sexual comments to her at work, including remarks about her appearance.
She recalled him ogling her body, growling and saying, "God, I love you in that dress." She testified that she felt increasingly anxious each morning as she chose what to wear to work.
She would change three or four times while trying to select which outfit to wear, not wanting more ogling or comments.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.
A stream of people showing up to a brightly lit front porch, each holding up a bottle of wine, spirits, or beer.
Sona Lakhoyan Olivier has been excluded from Quebec’s Liberal caucus for the duration of an investigation led by the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner, the party announced Thursday.
The head of the William Whyte Neighbourhood Association hopes a city plan to crack down on vacant properties leads to a transformation in his community.