Former Chiarelli staffer comes forward with familiar tale

Brittany Lees was so happy and surprised to land a job in Coun. Rick Chiarelli's office.

The offer had come out of the blue. While Lees had spoken with Chiarelli several times when he dropped by the Value Village where she worked, she had no idea he was an Ottawa city councillor.

"He eventually told me that he was coming to basically headhunt me," Lees said.

She found it odd, but at the same time sawit as a goodopportunity to get out of what she called"retail hell."

Lees started working for Chiarelli part time in December 2015. At first it was "exciting," she said. "You know, I'm going into this whole new world."

Chiarelli showed revealing photos of coworkers, former employee says

5 years ago

Duration 0:45

Brittany Lees says Coun. Rick Chiarelli showed her and another colleague a picture on his phone of a staffer wearing a sheer top with no bra to a public event. Chiarelli has denied this allegation.

A 'weird' turn

But after two months, Lees said things got"weird"when Chiarelli took her to Montreal on city business.

That evening, after their meeting had ended, instead of driving back to OttawaLees said the College ward councillor drove her to a bar district in Montreal. When they pulled up outside a night club, she saidChiarelli pulled a little red dress short and low-cutwith diamond-shaped panels cut out the sides from his van and told her to put it on andgo into aclub to recruit volunteers.

It really gave me the heebie-jeebies.- Brittany Lees

Lees obeyed and changedinto the dress in the back of the van, thenChiarelli gave her money to buy a drink.

"And reluctantly, but complacently, I just walked in," said Lees, who's struggled with mental health issues since she was 12 something she saidshe told Chiarelli when he hired her.

Lees didn't sign up any volunteers, but spent the time having a drink and texting her boyfriend about what was happening.

"The whole time inside, I remember I just wanted to go home," she said. "My anxiety was through the roof."

Chiarelli denies fresh allegations

Lees is the 13th woman to speak with CBC about Chiarelli's alleged inappropriate behaviour and comments.

In an email, Chiarelli's lawyer, Bruce Sevigny, denied Lees's allegations, adding the "purported summary of relevant facts is missing key information." When asked what information was missing, Sevigny did not respond.

• Councillor asked job applicant about going braless, woman alleges
• 'Better without a bra': More women come forward with allegations against Chiarelli

Sevigny also wrote: "Councillor Chiarelli will not be responding substantively to these allegations, or any previous allegations, in the news media.He has previously made clear his views on the appropriate forum for defending his good name and political record."

Two weeks ago, Chiarelli issued a personal statement saying"without reservation, that I have never treated a member of my staff (including job candidates)in a sexually harassing, discriminatoryor inappropriate 'gender-based' fashion."

Bizarre recruitment scheme

Over the following 16 months that she worked for Chiarelli, Lees saidhe asked her a few more times to engage in the bizarrevolunteer recruitmentscheme.

Once,Lees said, he drove her all the way to Stages night club in Kingston, Ont., asking her to wear one of the cut-off T-shirts that she already owned.

"He asked me to wear one without a bra," Lees said.

But after she had a panic attack outside of the club, she said Chiarelli drove her back to Ottawa.

"I just remember the whole night being so scared that I would lose my job," Lees said.

Revealingphotos

Lees saidChiarelli also showed her photos on his cell phone of women in revealing clothing, including a former staffer whose top revealed"pretty much just her side boob. And he was like, 'You need to wear shirts like this.'"

Chiarelli also showed Lees and another colleague a picture on his phone of a third staffer wearing a sheer topwith no bra to a public event.

He said, 'That's good, butdid you lose your boobs?'- Brittany Lees

That woman was Victoria Laaber, who came forward publicly with her story late last month. She alleged it was Chiarelli who asked her to wear thatflimsy top which he had provided and suggested she not wear a bra.

According to Lees, Chiarelli made fun of Laaber in the photo, making it seem as if it was Laaber's decision to wear the top.

"To know [he had] any of those pictures made me uncomfortable," Lees said. "It really gave me the heebie-jeebies."

Mental, physical toll

Lees said working for Chiarelli was causing her mental and physical health to deteriorate. She was having trouble getting out of bed, and she had gained 100 pounds.

Then one day in June 2017, Lees didn't get up to go to work, and she never went back.

No longer living in Ottawa, Lees said she's in a better place, both mentally and physically. But last July, she said she was shaken when Chiarelli called to ask ifshe wanted to come back to work in hisoffice.

During their conversation, Leesmentioned to Chiarelli that she had lost all the weight she had gained while working for him.

"He said, 'That's good, butdid you lose your boobs?'"

Lees said she told Chiarelli she looked good. She hung up and hasn't talked to him since.