For more than a year, a Canada Post mail carrier has been targeted by homophobic messages in his workplace, harassment which has plunged him into psychological exhaustion. For more than a year, he has been urging his employer to take steps to stop these acts of intimidation. In vain. The state-owned company is recording a marked increase in incidents of violence and harassment at work.
“PD”: these are the two favorite letters of one or more taggers employed at the imposing Canada Post branch in Bridge, Montreal. This homophobic insult targets the man we will call Fred. The victim requested anonymity because she fears professional and personal reprisals.
We were able to corroborate his version using photos, emails, complaint forms and four witnesses with whom we spoke. In 2017, the Bridge branch was the subject of a report by The Press in which workers denounced a “toxic” environment.
While all cases of physical injuries are decreasing from 2022 to 2023 at Canada Post, “incidents related to violence and harassment in the workplace” jumped 60%, from 553 to 886, shows a report on sustainable development published by the Crown corporation on May 31.
The ordeal of Fred, who is homosexual, begins innocuously in April 2023. The young postman discovers that his name is painted on a wall of the men’s toilet. A new graffiti appears a few days later, then a third, where “Fred” appears this time in the outline of a penis. This event convinces the Canada Post employee to fill out an initial incident notice for his employer.
In June 2023, “Fred” is written in black marker near a hole in a toilet wall. An arrow connects the first name to the orifice. A month later, another cavity forms. “I’m Back,” the harasser will write. In August, the tone is more threatening: “Shut your eyes criss de PD”.
It’s soon Fred’s delivery truck that serves as a canvas for hatred: a bold “PD” contrasts with the white paint.
Customers served by Fred say they see their postman, “a ray of sunshine”, slowly fading away. “It’s a little joy to live, this gentleman,” says Marie-Johanne Grégoire, for example. But I saw him wasting away, his morale low, less cheerful, more anxious. We started chatting. And he opened up about workplace bullying. »
Fred’s partner, also a postal worker, testifies to the “psychological distress” of his usually luminous companion. “At one point I raised a flag to management: It’s time to do something, because one day it might be too late. You never know what the straw will be that breaks your camel’s back. »
An untraceable criminal
Management organizes meetings with employees, but these do not stop the problem.
“There is a five-hour training course on harassment, but its content was summarized for us in around fifteen minutes, like that, one morning,” wonders Fred’s colleague, Valérie Gravel. “As a homosexual person, I have concerns about whether management is capable of enforcing Canada Post’s Charter against Racism and Discrimination. »
“When it’s no longer Fred, who will it be? », asks Tiffany Dubreuil, final sorting clerk at Bridge.
“When it’s no longer gays, are we going to attack obese or deaf people? It creates this kind of climate.”
Graffiti after graffiti, management is unable to identify the culprit(s). Surveillance cameras never record conclusive images of misdeeds, we explain to Fred. However, he was never able to see the images.
On September 18, 2023, the postman receives a mysterious letter at his home. Inside, the missive is as brutal as it is laconic: “Ta Yeule PD”. The following month, the postman’s stool was “tagged” with the same abbreviation, a derivative of pederast, which formerly designated a man attracted to young boys.
Fred completed four incident notices, made two police complaints, contacted the Commission on Human Rights and Youth Rights – around ten colleagues joined in – and filed four grievances with his union.
Always the same objective: “that the intimidation stops”.
Same scenario when he returns
After around twenty events, undermined by insomnia and anxiety, Fred went on sick leave in October 2023. He was compensated by the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety. work safety (CNESST) for harassment at work, according to the doctor’s note.
He gradually returned to his duties five months later, in March, with the hope that time would have worn down the motivation of his bully(ies). It was on April 14 that he realized that a predator was still running. On the wall of the men’s toilet where the first graffiti appeared almost a year ago to the day: “Who I Am? King PD! »
“During your absence, there were no incidents,” notes a unit head in a report addressed to Fred and dated 1er May 2024. Yet another confirmation that we are attacking him directly.
The postman recently learned that new graffiti appeared at the end of May. It was quickly erased by management. How many more like this?
Fred deplores that Canada Post, subject to Regulations on the prevention of harassment and violence in the workplace (Bill C-65), lacked rigor and will in its management of the file.
Above all, Fred has difficulty explaining why his employer still cannot offer him a safe work space, more than a year after his first report. He tells his story in the hope that “the bullying stops.” That he can return to his work normally. And also his life.
“For more than a year, I saw my colleague suffer, undergo disappointments, refusals, unsuccessful grievances and abandonment,” says mail carrier Valérie Gravel. Every day, he fears being the target of insults again, and every day, the psychological violence he suffers intensifies. »
Fred, she continues, “wears sunglasses every morning.” Why? “To hide the tears that have too often flowed before 7 a.m.”
Canada Post’s reaction
Canada Post says it cannot provide any details about Fred’s situation “to respect the confidentiality of the investigation.” “I can confirm that we are taking the situation seriously and have acted quickly,” wrote Valérie Chartrand, a spokesperson for the postal company, in an email. “Several internal teams, the union and others continue to work toward a resolution. We have also increased safety and monitoring measures in the workplace, and have raised the issue with Employment and Social Development Canada to ensure that no avenue is overlooked to resolve this situation.” The goal of Canada Post, which has some 68,000 employees, “is to completely eliminate harm, which means that one incident of harassment in the workplace is one incident too many,” the spokesperson continued. As for the increase in cases of harassment and violence in the workplace, Canada Post says it has “updated its policy” and “improved training,” in addition to reviewing its “resolution process” and “management platform.” “Although we have made progress working together, we still have work to do,” Mr.me Chartrand.