The Royal Canadian Legion has suspended the entire BC/Yukon Command executive after a former president told CTV News he was fired after he suspended eight members for allegedly harassing a female staff member.
As first reported by CTV News on Tuesday, Glenn Hodge ordered the eight members removed from their positions and suspended following an external human resources investigation into allegations that the female staff member was harassed on multiple occasions, facing derogatory remarks about her body and breasts and how she dressed.
Documents obtained by CTV News revealed the investigator found the allegations were “substantiated.”
In an internal memo on August 4, the Legion’s BC/Yukon Command stated the alleged harassment reflected “poorly on our organization as a whole” and put the Legion “at risk for litigation.”
But Legion headquarters, known as Dominion Command in Ottawa, overturned Hodge’s decision to suspend one of the eight members, First Vice President Valerie MacGregor, and promoted her to president of B.C./Yukon Command -- replacing Hodge. The reversal was announced by Dominion president David Flannigan.
MacGregor resigned as president this weekend after CTV began investigating. She did not respond to a request for comment.
In an updated statement to CTV News, Dominion Command explained its reasoning for removing Hodge and putting MacGregor in his place. It said her resignation as president over the weekend was because she felt it was a conflict given the ongoing issues.
Spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Legion Dominion Command Nujma Bond said that MacGregor’s appeal of her removal was the first to be heard and once she was reinstated as First Vice President, she was the automatic replacement for Hodge once he was removed as the result of a “separate but related complaint.”
In the updated statement the Legion also alleges that Hodge did not follow the by-laws when deciding to remove the eight members of the BC/Yukon executive over the allegations.
“The Legion takes complaints related to harassment seriously as per its workplace policies but processes to deal with such complaints must be followed as per an organization’s by-laws or rules,” said Bond.
Now, in a letter obtained by CTV News dated Sept. 27, Dominion Command President David Flannigan writes that “due to recent matters that have arisen” he has suspended the powers of the BC/Yukon Legion executive effective immediately.
As well, Flannigan has appointed trustees to manage the BC/Yukon Legion affairs “until the issues are resolved and confidence of the membership is restored,” the letter reads.
Sources say they believe the suspension of the entire BC/Yukon executive is punishment for speaking out.
The executive was informed of their suspension by a trustee entering their meeting in B.C. An email was also sent.
No one in the currently suspended BC/Yukon Command executive is facing harassment allegations.
The Legion says the decision to suddenly suspend the executives was made over the past few days, “in accordance with the Legion’s by-Laws,” and not due to the CTV News report.
WorkSafe BC had been investigating the matter to determine if provincial regulations were breached. In a report released Wednesday, the inspector looking into the matter found that “the employer's investigation into the matter, and follow-up to the investigation, including the corrective actions implemented to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, are compliant with WorkSafe BC requirements."
With a report from CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson in Ottawa
