This story needs to be corrected. She is not suing her ex-husband and their two children.

She’s launched the suit on BEHALF of herself, ex-husband and two children, so they are plaintiffs, not defendants.

pylot project.. you’re right. this should be corrected.

If Ben ever wants to be taken seriously as a news provider he either needs to hire an editor or do a much better job of proof reading his stories.

The amount of errors in his reports, spelling or factual is beyond acceptable.

And he is always worried about being sued. Lol you better delete your own post Ben!

This happened in 1986, 27 years ago. THe world has changed dramatically since then. Hazing in many jobs/sports teams was happening, ask anyone who joined the navy, a hockey club etc. I am not saying it was right..but it was done. To file a law suit 27 years after the fact seems to me as someone looking for a nice retirement package. To add it was because she was female also seems a easy way to get a case settled.

I do hope this hazing stopped a decade or two ago as its no longer acceptable in our society, I was hazed going into high school, then onto the basketball team.. who do I sue ?

There is much more to the suit than gazing.

P Val,

Some good points, leads to good questions. Why after 27 years? Is it the change in acceptance in society towards such acts? Is it an attempt to line her pockets or a need to seek retribution?

Matter of fact the proof reader has taken a few days off and we have been busy. Thanks for the heads up.
It is interesting , rarely do you see a compliment for good work and I think with the exception of an odd mistake there is a reason why you all read 250news.

meisner

I agree Ben. Quite often good work goes unnoticed.

What I like about 250 is we get the news early and through out the day. As an example we are posting on this story starting at 6.11am. Cant get the news much faster than that.

Some newspapers report yesterdays news to-day, which is a little late.

Tks. Again.

Too bad she did not complain when it was happening, but then again she probably would have lost her job because she did complain. she was likely placed in a situation where she had no choice.

The problem is the organization is so old, so is their rituals and policies. Since they are in a position of trust, and authority, who is going to say they are wrong. IIO, no they are just pawns, everyonce in a while they slap a wrist. I’m not saying dismantle them. I say update them to meet our societies expectations.

Thanks Ben Meisner for your timely, informative and excellent reporting. We stopped getting the Citizen newspaper years ago for many reasons and glad we did because of the very biased editorials we have been seeing over the past few years.

We now use Opinion 250 for daily local news and also enjoy the “posts” other people send in…it is truly a “pulse” of Prince George.

It was no accident you received the well deserved, Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for among other things, being “the voice of the ordinary person”.

We appreciate what you are doing…keep up the good work!

Constable Mike Herchuk, eh? Always wondered what happened to that guy. Not surprised.

Hi Ben,
I agree with peegee….Great job!

For the record am a big proponent of anti-bulliing, hazing and these forms of human torture, however,8 plus million in damages?

I do hope there is more to this story.
My empathy level may fall considerably due to amount of greed a person may be putting into this claim expecting us tax payers to flip the bill for.

This bit-o-news is not surprising! The Kitty Heller report spilled the law enforcement harassment beans here in PG. That report indicated that harassment was a common workplace occurrence among the top officers and civilian officials here in Prince George!

What a great example to set for their rank and file! Sexual harassment / harassment seem to be so embedded, it has now become a part of RCMP culture.

Caroline O Farrell’s lawsuit adds to the 152 class action lawsuits of sexual harassment by former, and current, female RCMP officers… Houston… we have a problem!

My apologies, that would be 152 individual female RCMP officers in one class action lawsuit! I wish there was a edit comment option available for this comment board.

Maybe you need a proofreader…lol

“Posted by: Albus Antiquus Vir on May 22 2013 6:41 AM If Ben ever wants to be taken seriously as a news provider he either needs to hire an editor or do a much better job of proof reading his stories.
The amount of errors in his reports, spelling or factual is beyond acceptable.”

And yet here you are posting away leaving your mark on a unacceptable website…

Her complaints where never acted upon in any meanfull way when these incidents happened. The size of the lawsuit is meant to act as a deterrent, not greed. So do some of you think she should just shutup?

What complaint(s) she was hazed, no mention if she was the only one hazed..or if she knew about the hazing before signing up. She blames it on being female, how about we find out if all members where hazed first. The size of the lawsuit is all about being female in a male dominated profession from my point of view. We may differ but we shall see what happens, worst case scenario is they settle out of court.

“no mention if she was the only one hazed”

I do not quite comprehend why being part of a larger hazing event would make it okay. There is nothing about hazing which builds character. It simply perpetuates the notion that bullying is okay. I think that notion was understood by many by 1986/87.

The RCMP has made public their action plan dealing with the issues of gender and respect. It is available here:
http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/gba-eces/action/index-eng.htm

One of the actions was/is to: “Increased nationwide harassment training compliance from 89% to 94%”. So, more than 25 years after the event in the above article, harassment training compliance is not 100%!! I have to ask the obvious question, why is it taking more than 25 years to not even get to 100%? Are we waiting for the old guard to move out of the force?

Look at Table 1 in the above link. Over the last 7 years, there were 11 sexual harassment complaints filed in the BC/YT region, more than twice as many as in AB/SK/MB/NWT/NT.

There is a class action being sought. Perhaps O’Farrell decided she could not wait any longer.

Truth and reconciliation …… it has not happened yet in the RCMP in my opinion.

The numbers for BC/YK are concerning gus. I also noted in your link; the RCMP have an their own action plan that includes: addressing harassment; building respectful workplaces.

I really wish the RCMP would be more consisted in their actions to address harassment and abuse. It was only May 8th that major television networks were covering the Senate’s outrage, wanting the RCMP found in contempt for allegedly intimidating an officer out of testifying before parliament about abuse within the RCMP ranks.

http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1128239-senator-wants-rcmp-found-in-contempt

You are right gus, truth and reconciliation has not happened yet in the RCMP, it would seem!

Here is an article from Halifax dated today.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2012/10/05/rcmps_atlantic_harassment_coordinator_says_she_herself_was_victim_of_bullying.html

Bullying in the RCMP workplace continues. Who can stop it? Are these people all stupid? I thought they were attracting more educated folks.

The proposd new act is supposed to create a force that is more regionalized. I do not think that is very good for human resources. There needs to be a high standard of practice and it needs to be equally applied thoughout the country.

Thanks for the info… wow more and more female RCMP Officers continue to step forward, risking their careers, to draw attention to an abusive workplace.

I just don’t get! If the RCMP really wants to change and address abuse and sexual harassment within their organization… why are they “denying” and contesting all of these allegations?

How can an organization that is in denial, change itself?

Shouldn’t this fall under Crown criminal prosecution?

The attached Globe & Mail article states that a class action lawsuit can be submitted to a Provincial (BC) or Federal court.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/dozens-of-female-rcmp-officers-seek-justice-through-class-action-lawsuit/article554445/

You can find the answer to your own question easily online riskeone. Yet asking questions is how we learn… nothing wrong with that riskeone :)

I believe harassment is not a criminal matter unless it is stalking.

Harrassment in the workplace is not a criminal matter so it is handled as a civil case, thus the suit.

Gus, you should read the article before commenting.
She says she was hazed because she was female. If a male was hazed then it proves otherwise.

P Val wrote: “Gus, you should read the article before commenting.”

“says she was subjected to an outdated hazing ritual in which she was doused with water and then grabbed by her arms and legs and dragged through stall shavings mixed with manure and urine.”

“this happened because she was a woman.”

Okay, so if it happened to all newbies it would be alright, according to you.

You obviously did not read my opinions that by that time the practice of hazing was, as she put it, outdated.

I do not care how many people were involved. Besides, the hazing is not the only thing it is about.

To quote from the article which I did read, but you obviously did not:
“claims she was sexually assaulted and harassed from 1986 to 1987 while working as a constable in the musical ride”

That is a very long hazing period!!!!!

This story is all over the internet. Some are longer and go into more detail and different detail descriing a bit more of the kind of macho conduct that the old boys club just love to impart on females who enter their fold.

Notice that the plan of the RCMP is to counteract that by increasing the female component from 30% to 35%.

Other than for minors, when a charge is laid, the document become a public record. Privacy laws do not apply to the release of names.

Lay a charge against a person who is an alleged burglar, child molester, assailant, etc. and their names are out there, guilty or not.

RCMP are not priviledged people, neither are firemen or anyone else.

I think the two big words that make her allegations so serious are “sexual assault” in her quoted claim; “she was sexually assaulted and harassed from 1986 to 1987 while working as a constable in the musical ride.”

IMO the hazing incident can be interpreted as a form of abuse, but cannot be interpreted as “sexual assault”. No, I believe she is alleging something more serious happened to her, and her story, along with the stories of 152 other female RCMP officers, will shake the public’s faith and trust in this national institution to it’s core.