The UQAM harassment prevention service had to devote more than 200 hours to manage a situation of group psychological harassment – or mobbing – in which three female theater students banned the men in their cohort from collaborating with a student who was the subject of rumors of sexual misconduct.
As part of this case, the Office of Intervention and Prevention in Psychological Harassment (BIPH) says in a sworn statement that it had 70 meetings with 15 members of the cohort, as well as with the teaching staff of the Higher theater school, to try to find a solution.
The events date back to the start of the 2021 academic year. After seeing the name of the theatrical acting student on the anonymous reporting site Say his name, one of the students wrote a message to all the men in the cohort indicating that women of the group did not wish to collaborate with the student in a “professional or social context” given the allegations of sexual violence.
Launched in August 2020, Say His Name’s mission is to anonymously denounce “potential attackers”. He counted up to 1500 names. The site did not verify the veracity of the allegations and was the subject of several defamation suits.
Theater students never contacted anonymous complainant to know the nature of the allegations published against their colleague.
They then met the student: “We told him that we had no solution, but that we were not well” in his presence, summarizes one of the three students in documents filed in court. ” I met [l’étudiant] to suggest that he leave UQAM [et] to go to another school,” explains a second.
Fifteen students then signed a petition indicating that they refused to collaborate with the student in the university context. The “emotional security” of the group was “unattainable” because of his presence, they justified.
They also created a chat group called “La Résistance”, whose discussions aimed to “plan exclusion actions” against the colleague, according to UQAM.
The BIPH director then met with the entire cohort, in the student’s absence, to find a solution. The meeting was punctuated by “crys of anger” from people who had experienced trauma, according to the testimony of a student.
The dean also sent warning emails and a formal letter to the students, demanding that they stop attacking the student, but to no avail.
In the following year, members of the group engaged in similar behaviors with another student in the cohort, according to court documents.
Me Christina Mageau, a lawyer specializing in psychological harassment mandated by the BIPH, investigated the situation and concluded that the dynamic created a “harmful study climate”, marked by the relentlessness of three students against different members of the cohort.
Despite apologies and a desire for reconciliation that the students ended up expressing towards the student, the three students were suspended and they were prohibited from accessing the UQAM campus, in September 2023, for a full session.
The students challenged their suspension in court, accusing UQAM and BIPH of “deficient management” as well as a “disproportionate” and “draconian” sanction.
“I should have listened more during meetings with the BIPH,” wrote one of them, in a letter addressed to management.
They later withdrew the appeal they had filed.
THE mobbinga “social murder”
Little known in Quebec, group harassment, or mobbing, is well documented in academia and the healthcare sector. Political scientist Eve Séguin, a specialist on the issue at UQAM, describes the phenomenon as “organizational terrorism” or a form of “social murder”.
You use extremely harsh words to describe this little-known phenomenon. Is this justified?
THE mobbing is a group policy that aims to get rid of a person in an organization. And to get there, all means are good. The group employs pack justice, which aims to isolate the target. I do not hesitate to speak of “organizational terrorism” because the people in the group who witness it realize that very quickly, if they do not participate, they too will become targets. People are scared.
How is this different from bullying?
Both are methods of psychological harassment, but for us to talk about mobbing, the authority in place must side with those who do the bullying. In the most serious cases, the target can no longer turn to anyone, he has no lifeline. It is an unbearable situation that can lead to suicide. Authority can side with mobbers passively, by looking away, or actively, by also trying to get rid of the person.
You say that the recruitment of the authority body is often done through unethical communication. What do you mean by that ?
Essentially, the group is spreading a rumor, which they share with those in positions of power. It is a fundamental weapon in the mobbing. For management, it’s uncomfortable to manage and it’s growing. Often, this pushes the management team to have a first meeting with the target, which destabilizes and weakens it. The person may then decide to withdraw on their own, by resigning, going on extended leave, retiring… or worse.
Are sexual allegations against targets common?
We live in a neo-moralist society where, as soon as you touch sex, you can say anything. It is one of the best weapons of the mobbing. In what I call the identity left, we very much associate sexuality with sexual harassment. Anything remotely related to sexuality is considered threatening to women.
What can a person do if they notice actions or behaviors that may resemble group harassment? ?
Make sure you never act alone, because you too will become a target. We can open the eyes of the authority in place by acting together. A good measure to put in place in an organization is also to ensure that everyone can talk about everything, except other colleagues. All discussions are good around the coffee machine, except those concerning rumors about others.