A long-dormant human rights complaint involving serious allegations of sex and pregnancy-based discrimination at Canadore College is heading to a public tribunal this spring, reigniting concerns about the institution’s leadership and workplace culture.
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, on May 13 and 14, is expected to hear explosive claims from a former employee who alleges she was fired from Canadore College in 2018 due to her pregnancy — in a case that also includes accusations of toxic and sexualized workplace behaviour by senior leadership.
It's been almost six years since the former employee, whose name we are not disclosing at this point due to privacy concerns, filed a human rights complaint against Canadore College and one of its vice presidents, Shawn Chorney. The application alleges discrimination contrary to the Human Rights Code.
She was employed by Canadore between 2015 and 2018.
The woman, who has a B.Sc. and an MBA, alleges sex discrimination and reprisal after she was passed over for a managerial promotion following her maternity leave. Canadore College denies the allegations, stating that a more qualified candidate was selected.
A human rights tribunal is not a court, so it does not decide guilt or innocence. Its role is to determine whether harassment or discrimination occurred, and if so, to order remedies. Possible outcomes include monetary compensation and job reinstatement.
The tribunal will hear arguments from both sides, plus witness statements. At this point, none of the allegations have been tested or proven.
See: Canadore College notified of serious allegations of sex discrimination
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In August of 2023, Chorney filed a request to be removed as a party from the proceeding, but that was rejected by adjudicator Lavinia Inbar, who said: "I note the conduct of the individual respondent is a central issue in dispute."
BayToday reached out to Chorney for comment but did not receive a response.
Canadore president George Burton seemed unaware of the action when contacted by BayToday. "I am not sure what Human Rights Tribunal hearing you're referring to. In any event, the College would not comment."
Toronto lawyer Gillian Hnatiw is representing the complainant and has filed "pleadings." Pleadings are the formal, written documents that set out each party's legal and factual claims. They are used in a hearing to provide the tribunal and the other party with a clear understanding of the case, including the alleged facts, the legal basis for the claims, and the relief being sought.
In their submission, they argue there was discrimination during the woman's employment by being denied a promotion, fired, and in comments, displays, jokes, harassment, and a poisoned work environment by Chorney, her former boss. At the time, the woman says she complained to Burton, the president of Canadore College, and to the Human Resources Department, but no investigation was started.
Canadore disputes this in its response, saying the complainant refused to participate in the College's internal investigation process.
"While this (in and of itself) was of great concern to the College, what was even more concerning was that the Applicant appeared to expressly disregard the
instructions given to her about confidentiality as she embarked on what appeared to be a calculated campaign within the workplace to publicly discredit Mr.
Chorney, while at the same time refusing to participate in the workplace investigation process," the College submission reads.
"The Applicant's behaviour in openly criticizing Mr. Chorney in front of other employees was not acceptable and she was warned that she was required to refrain from such conduct; however, she persisted in this behaviour and ultimately the College directed the Applicant to remain at home pending the expiry of her fixed term contract as the College chose to pay out the remainder of that contract rather than deal with the negative affect her behaviour was having on the workplace."
In her submission, the complainant highlights her achievements running a new student program, a "top priority" initiative set up to provide financial and academic support to Ontario Works recipients and their dependents to help them achieve long-term success.
"I consistently exceeded all targets and expectations and received glowing feedback from a number of internal and external stakeholders, including Mr. Chorney," the woman writes. "He repeatedly reassured me that I would be offered a permanent position with Canadore."
Increased responsibilities quickly followed.
"Mr. Chorney routinely told me that my work was excellent. He continued to assure me that I would soon be made a permanent employee and confided that he saw me becoming a Director one day.
"In October 2016, I was invited by George Burton, the President of Canadore and Mr. Chorney's boss, to join him in accepting the Success Story Award at the Bell Evening of Excellence Awards in recognition of the success. By inviting me to join him, the most senior member of the Canadore community was recognizing my exceptional work."
Things turned sour a couple of weeks later when she claims she excitedly told Chorney she was pregnant with her second child and planned to commence maternity leave in May 2017.
"When I shared this news, I had no idea that it would quickly derail my career at Canadore," she writes. "Mr. Chorney responded that he had big plans for me but that I had 'thrown a wrench in the mix.'"
The relationship continued to deteriorate, and things went from bad to worse, she claims.
"Despite his long-standing assurances that my position would be made permanent, Mr. Chorney began to deflect or avoid any talk of my future at Canadore," the woman alleges.
"Over the following months, I noticed stark changes in the frequency and quality of my interactions with Mr. Chorney. Whereas he had previously encouraged my initiatives, he no longer spoke to me about new projects or the success I was having with my current initiatives. Despite his change in attitude, I continued to apply myself diligently and achieve outstanding results."
A mat leave replacement was hired — a person the woman claims is a close friend and mentee of Chorney who had been working for Canadore for close to a decade, but had no previous experience with poverty reduction, entrepreneurship or other similar programs.
She says Canadore then posted a permanent position for what was "essentially my job and neglected to tell me about it."
She claims she was "passed over for a permanent position in favour of a less qualified male candidate. I do not believe that this would have happened if I had not taken maternity leave from my job."
The submission states that during her first week back from maternity leave, a "shocking number of women - more than 15" approached her to express sympathy for what she had gone through, most telling her that they were not surprised the male had prevailed in the competition, given that Canadore is essentially a "boys club."
"Many of them shared stories about how Mr. Chorney had harassed and bullied them as well," she states. "They even referred to the experience as 'being Chorneyed', a term that was coined in reference to the manner in which Mr. Chorney manipulates and mistreats the women around him."
The pleadings also list a number of witnesses that Hnatiw plans to call to testify at the hearing. The submission says one woman, a Canadore employee for over 20 years, will tell of witnessing "many incidents of poor treatment by Mr. Chorney, who once commented on her breasts" in front of other employees.
Another woman is expected to testify about how "Mr. Chorney once put a condom on her desk as a 'practical joke.'"
The pleadings also allege office sex between Chorney and a direct subordinate.
"In addition, Mr. Chorney created an inappropriately sexualized work environment. He is rumoured to have engaged in repeated sex acts on Canadore property. It is common knowledge that he initiated a sexual relationship with a direct report. Instead of reprimanding or disciplining Mr. Chorney for this inappropriate relationship, Canadore promoted him and implicitly condoned his conduct. Mr. Chorney openly refers to this result as his Teflon moment," reads the document.
Burton admitted to the on-campus sex between Chorney and a married co-worker in 2020, while speaking to reporters.
"There was an intimate relationship between two employees, which was raised as a concern by some of the persons who came forward," he said, but dismissed the sexual activity on campus by saying, "However, this relationship was entirely consensual in nature, and these individuals are now married and have been for many years."
In fact, in February 2019, Hnatiw wrote to Bob Nicholls, then-Chair of the Board of Governors, to tell him about the mounting accusations.
"In the course of investigating the allegations, my office spoke with over a dozen individuals who claim to have experienced similar types of career-limiting or ending discrimination or abuse while employed by Canadore," she wrote. "We were also given names and information for more than two dozen other individuals, who are said to have endured similar experiences. Most (but not all) of the allegations involve Shawn Chorney, Canadore's Vice-President of Enrollment Management, Indigenous and Student Services."
Hnatiw cited examples of the stories reported to her dating back nearly a decade:
- Sexual misconduct, including engaging in sexual acts on campus
- Sexual harassment, including lewd remarks, comments and gestures
- Bullying and psychological harassment
- Discrimination
- Retaliation, retribution and reprisals
- Systematic character denigration
- Coordinated and deliberate sabotage of others' careers
- It is reported that this conduct has created a hostile and poisoned environment, involving a 'boys' club' atmosphere in which Mr. Chomey is permitted to act with impunity.
In that same letter, Hnatiw called for an external investigator to conduct an independent inquiry into the workplace environment at Canadore.
"A number of former employees reported making good faith attempts to raise their concerns internally, only to find themselves quickly without a job," she wrote. "It is clear from our conversations with Canadore's current employees that they are terrified to speak up or lodge a complaint against Mr. Chorney, for fear of retribution or reprisal. They do not trust Canadore's human resources department. They also lack confidence in the willingness and/or ability of Canadore's management to address these issues in a meaningful way.
"To be clear, I cannot say whether any of the allegations are true. However, distinct issues and themes emerged from our interviews. It was troubling to hear such stories about a publicly-funded institution in 2019."
That inquiry was, in fact, held in 2019.
See: Third party investigator to look into Canadore sex discrimination complaints
And: George Burton: 'Investigator's report won't be made public'
And: Union fears Canadore will 'sweep it under the rug'
Lawyers representing Chorney and Canadore reject those claims, saying the applicant asserted that "Mr. Chorney had engaged in a variety of very serious misconduct, including but not limited to sexual misconduct, including sexual acts on campus, sexual harassment and 'lewd remarks, comments and gestures.' None of these comments had been raised by the Applicant prior to her leaving the College's employ."
The College denies that it has in any way infringed the provisions of the Ontario Human Rights Code. "The College denies that the Applicant has been discriminated against based on sex. At all times, the Applicant was treated with respect and dignity.
"While the College acknowledges that the Applicant's fixed-term contract was not renewed, it denies that this non-renewal had any connection to the Applicant's gender or the fact that the Applicant had taken a maternity leave in 2017, as she alleges. The Applicant's contract was scheduled to end in November of 2018 and for funding reasons specifically related to her position, the College was unable to extend her contract, although it had hoped to be able to do so."
Canadore's own policy document, provided to all employees, expressly prohibits sexual harassment, describing it as "engaging in a course of comment or conduct of a gender-related or sexual nature that is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome."
Its examples include: gestures; remarks; jokes; slurs; taunting; innuendo; threats; physical, verbal or sexual assault; sexual solicitation or advance; invitations;
inappropriate staring; display of sexually offensive pictures, materials, or apparel; unwanted contact, attention or demands; implied or express promise of a benefit or advancement in return for sexual favours; implied or express threat or act of reprisal if sexual favours are not given.
Hnatiw told BayToday that, regretfully, these types of allegations are not unusual.
"My reaction was that this was something that needed to be addressed, and sadly, she's not the first or the last woman that I've spoken with whose decision to become pregnant has affected their career trajectory," she said. "Sometimes we call it the pregnancy tax. It's definitely not new. The sexual misconduct in the workplace is as old as time, but I'm happy that more and more victims are coming forward and standing up against it.
"I think that this will be an opportunity to publicly test these allegations and that my client is looking forward to it, and that we think that these have been handled under a veil of secrecy for too long, as you know, Canadore buried both reports. (A report specific to the discrimination claims, and a broader report into abuse at Canadore College.)
Hnatiw said the whole ordeal has been "incredibly difficult" for her client and her family. Early on, she says, Canadore offered to settle, but her client turned it down because "she felt there was a principle involved."
She said that while there aren't a lot of specifics available at this point, in the spring, journalists will be able to cover the proceedings, day by day, in detail.
Meanwhile, a settlement is still an available route, Hnatiw said.
"It's possible that they will try and resolve it for sure, but at the moment, we are heading to a hearing," she said.
The victim told BayToday, "What my family and I have endured has been deeply personal and painful, and no woman should have to experience this kind of treatment, especially in a public institution. Every woman deserves to feel safe in her workplace. I am ready for my case to be heard before the tribunal and for the full story to become public."
In her submission, she added, "I consider myself a strong person, but this experience has taken an enormous toll on me personally and professionally. It has had a huge impact on my dignity, self-worth and self-confidence."