'Old boys' club': Civilian staff with Lethbridge police allege bullying, harassment, sexism at work
CBC
Seventeen current and former Lethbridge Police Service civilian staff, all of whom are women, say their work culture involves bullying, harassment and retaliation against anyone who speaks up.
Fifteen of the women voiced their grievances through a formal complaint. Several of those employees told CBC News filing a complaint in 2019 led to further abuse and multiple stress leaves.
Lethbridge Police Chief Shahin Mehdizadeh — who took the top job in 2020 — said in an interview last week that the service is committed to providing a safe and healthy work environment. He said he would not tolerate the sort of behaviour described by the women working at LPS.
Mehdizadeh pointed to a recent hire of Howatt HR, a human resources firm that specializes in psychological health and safety, to conduct a "listening tour" starting this month.
But Mehdizadeh was hesitant to describe the conditions as harassment. Rather, the chief says an investigation of the formal complaint identified "conflict in the workplace."
Civilian staff members who spoke to CBC News have been given pseudonyms so that they can talk openly without fear of professional reprisal.
When Alice retired three years before her planned departure date, it was a financial hit, but one she says she was willing to take after spending more than a decade working in an "extremely toxic" environment under a man she describes as "tyrannical" and "very, very threatening."
After 30 years with the City of Lethbridge — many of them in the records management unit — Alice's last day at LPS was in April 2020.
Leaving early because of harassment and bullying felt like "a kick in the gut" but Alice says it was necessary for her physical and mental health.
"I was very, very tired of always fighting, fighting, fighting to just be able to do my job," said Alice.
Her biggest issue at LPS was a staff sergeant who she alleges, over the years, accused her of having a mental illness and blackmailed her with a failing performance review he had written.
The staff sergeant, she says, would slam doors and toss chairs across the room when he was angry.
If Alice, who by then was a supervisor, didn't complete tasks the way the officer demanded, he would become irate.
"It's about power: the overlying thinking is, 'I am an officer, you are a civilian, you are nothing,'" she said.