(Ottawa) A Global Affairs Canada (GAC) executive has been promoted despite humiliating and insulting departmental employees – a “serious case of mismanagement,” according to the sector’s integrity commissioner audience.
Posted at 7:16 p.m.
She told a Jewish employee that a training session would be like a “concentration camp”, alluded to the weight of an employee, mocking that she had “again had to eat too many cupcakes” in seeing her going to the gym, and called a pregnant employee at 7 a.m. to demand that she come to the office even though the employee had informed her that she was unwell and would be taking a sick day.
Despite these errors, which had been reported to the ministry in an investigation document submitted in 2017 after a disclosure by a whistleblower, Latifa Belmahdi obtained a promotion from her employer in 2018, indicates in a scathing report published Thursday by the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner of Canada, Joe Friday.
“The information obtained during our investigation reveals that Mr.me Belmahdi repeatedly abused employees, including humiliating them, raising his voice and making inappropriate comments,” and this behavior has not ceased despite red flags being raised, the report reads. .
The department “failed to take sufficient steps to end Ms.me Belmahdi”, nor “acted on the recommendations stemming from the 2017 internal investigation report”, nor did he “monitor the behavior of Mr.me Belmahdi to determine if he had improved,” Commissioner Friday continued.
In June 2018, “AMC promoted Mme Belmahdi despite his behavior, thus endorsing it,” he notes.
Screams, thrown objects
The internal investigation was launched in 2016 following complaints from several employees.
“This investigation concluded that a number of incidents of inappropriate behavior had occurred. In particular, M.me Belmahdi shouted, threw objects, made fun of employees’ work, often said she hated her job and was going to kill herself, pushed and slapped an employee, and introduced a member of the team as ‘their fellow terrorist,’” Commissioner Friday’s report read.
To the ministry, whose “shortcomings correspond to a serious case of mismanagement”, he recommends in the same document, among other things, to “determine[r] whether to impose disciplinary sanctions” on the manager.
“AMC will initiate a disciplinary process to resolve the issues raised in the report and this process will include appropriate disciplinary or corrective measures”, indicates on this subject the ministry, which has the right of reply in the commissioner’s report.
It was not immediately possible to confirm whether Latifa Belmahdi was still working at AMC. His name was still listed in the federal government employee directory as of this writing Thursday night.