Loralyn Benoit refuses to be silent. Despite going through a very troubling sexual harassment case, she decided to speak out so that other women will feel that they too can come forward. Most troubling however, is that Benoit, a fourth-year PhD Immunology student working out of Princess Margaret Hospital, was put through the wringer by her employers during the ordeal.
“When the touching started, I felt awkward,” says Benoit. While in her third year of study, Benoit was in constant contact with a hospital employee not associated with U of T. Benoit says that he would pull her next to body, kiss her or fondle her buttocks and thighs, sometimes in front of other students or staff members.
After telling him several times that she did not appreciate the behaviour, she threatened to report him, and for awhile, the harassment stopped. Within a month, however, the groping started again, along with harassing phone calls, and in February of last year, Benoit reported the employee to the University Health Network’s Human Resources department. The UHN represents Princess Margaret, Toronto Western and Toronto General hospitals.
“That was when everything went from bad to fucking bad,” says Benoit.
After waiting a month, Benoit finally met with Jacqueline Silvera, manager of workplace diversity for the UHN. In March, a lengthy informal process was initiated to deal with the matter. Despite the fact that the harasser admitted to the behaviour, he continued to work at the hospital. Benoit was crushed. “I had done everything the right way,” she says.
At this point, Benoit had a nervous breakdown, and was hospitalized on May 23. A month after she returned, she was sent to the Occupational Health department because the harasser’s supervisor, Dr. Christopher Paige, thought she had lost too much weight and would be a work liability. Benoit passed the physical, but claims the whole ordeal was a way of silencing her, as she was to meet with UHN CEO Tom Closson two days after.
Nonetheless, in August, a formal investigation was launched, and Benoit assumed the worst was behind her. “He had written an admission. It’s a black and white case,” she says. Indeed, in a copy of the apology obtained by The Varsity and signed by the harasser, he admits that “I do understand that some of my actions in the past have offended you” and that “[Benoit] interpreted my actions as inappropriate.”
When asked to respond to this, the harasser told The Varsity “I am not discussing this matter at all.”
In September, Benoit was told Dr. Paige was chosen to take the leadership position for the case. Seeing as Dr. Paige was the harasser’s supervisor, Benoit felt this was a conflict of interest. Benoit claims that during the investigation, she was asked for her sexual history, including a list of past partners. “[The investigator] asked all about my sex life, which I found very inappropriate,” says Benoit. Attempts to contact Dr. Paige were forwarded to the UHN’s public affairs department, who told The Varsity the doctor could not comment on the case.
In November, Benoit was told by Silvera that the interim report contained “no corroborating evidence” to support her case, despite the fact that Benoit had several witnesses. “I had everyone come forward,” stresses Benoit, who says her witnesses were not even interviewed during the investigation until she contacted U of T Faculty of Medicine Dean David Naylor. Along with having the witnesses actually interviewed, Benoit asked that the portion of the report regarding her sexual history be taken out.
A second report came out, and this time Benoit was briefed by VP Human Resources Emma Pavlov. In a copy of the investigation findings obtained by The Varsity, Pavlov writes “the investigation has determined that sexual harassment, as defined by UHN’s Fostering Respect in the Workplace Policy, has occurred. This will also confirm that UHN has taken action on all the recommendations submitted by the Investigator and this resolves the matter.”
According to the Workplace Policy, appropriate discipline includes dismissal from employment, but as of Friday, the harasser was still working at Princess Margaret hospital.
As for Benoit, she is still pursuing justice, and her claim has been accepted by the Ontario Human Rights Commission. “Highly effective people are getting treated like shit. These are decent human beings,” says Benoit.
But Benoit is not the only U of T student grappling with sexual harassment and the UHN, however. In a grievance filed by CUPE 3902, the union which represents teaching assistants and student instructors at U of T, a doctor at one of UHN’s hospitals was accused of sexual harassment and sexual assault. The matter has since gone through mediation, but according to supporters of the student, the mediation only handled the academic fall-out of the incident, not the harassment.
When asked to comment on Benoit’s case, UHN VP Public Affairs Gillian Howard noted that the UHN “does not comment on individual cases,” but did admit that “in particular results, people are unsatisfied.”
Dean Naylor would not comment on specific cases either, but did say that the faculty’s dealings with UHN “tend to be on the academic and professional side and are very positive,” but on issues of human resources, the faculty has “very little mileage.”
