Ottawa police officer alleges racial discrimination
Const. Khoa Hoang, a Vietnamese Canadian, says he was bullied and blocked from promotion because of his race
A veteran Ottawa police officer who has won numerous awards and graduated from the Ontario Police College at the top of his classhas filed a complaint against Chief Charles Bordeleau and the force, alleging he's been harassed and denied promotion because of racial discrimination and his previous decision to testify against fellow officers.
In his complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, Const. Khoa Hoang, a 37-year-old Vietnamese Canadian officer, claims top executives of the Ottawa Police Serviceignored his complaints about continuous harassment by managers and colleagues.
Nearly a dozen officers, including constables, sergeants, staff sergeants andinspectors, are named in hiscomplaint.
Hoangwrotehe was living in constant fear of reprisal at work and suffered from panic attacks and depression as a result.
'Determined to ruin my career'
"There was no satisfying the bullies and predators that were determined to ruin my career, leveraging their positions to inflict as much pain, suffering and humiliations as possible without following process," he wrotein his claim.
The force has not yet filed its response to the complaint, and Bordeleauhas saidhe won't comment on the specifics of the case.
Hoang's policing career began with promise. After obtaining abachelor's degree in psychology from Carleton University, hewas accepted into the Ontario Police College and graduated withthe highest overall average in his class.
Within months of being hired by the Hamilton Police Service, Hoang's character was tested in a police corruption case. As a rookie cop, Hoangtestifiedagainst three fellow officers who broke into a home without a warrant to arrest a suspect.
At the time, Hamilton police Chief Brian Mullan praised Hoang's decision to testifyas a "single act of courage" and commended him for having the "moral fortitude to do what is right."
Dogged by rumours
Hoangwas recruited into the Ottawa Police Service in 2007 and quickly made a name for himself in community policing. Despite being recognized as the city's best law enforcement professional by Crime Prevention Ottawa and winning other leadership awards,Hoangallegeshe was dogged by false rumours surrounding his work in Hamilton, which thwarted his advancement.
In his complaint,Hoangwrotea senior officer spread rumours he "could not be trusted" when Hoangapplied for a job-shadow opportunity in the partner assault unit in 2014.
That same yeartwo of Hoang's supervisors recommendedhe be promoted to sergeant. They noted his performance tracking log included 28 positive entriesand no negative ones. In a pool of 40 eligible promotional candidates, Hoang was ranked 34th.
In the tribunal documents, Hoang alleges that after he made the cut for the promotional pool, a fellow constable filed a complaint about himandthe supervisors who initially supported him, now facingpressure fromother senior officers,interfered in the process "to discredit and manipulate [Hoang's] successful results" in favour of a white officer who was ranked below Hoang at no. 78.
The human rights tribunal route actuallyaffords complainants something the grievance route doesn't ...a public interest remedy.- ElieLabaky, Hoang's lawyer
Hoang alleges his supervisors harassed and targeted him using an ad hoc disciplinary process in an attempt to silence him and mask the underlying racism in the promotional process.
After the constable's complaint against the Vietnamese officer was deemed "unsubstantiated," Hoang's patrol staff sergeant decided to launch a "personal investigation" into his performance. Shereviewed Hoang's response to more than400 calls over a two-year period, even though it was outside her responsibilities, Hoang wrote.
Following his staff sergeant's investigation, Hoang was told managementfound significant misconduct and performance issues and that he would have to complete 500 hours with a coach officer.Hoang was also ordered by his inspector to apologize for his behaviour in front of other officers in his platoon.
In his statement to the tribunal, Hoangwrotehe tried to resolve the "sudden allegations of performance issues" by agreeing to take responsibility for his alleged mistakes and apologizing to his platoon because he was afraid ofbeing punished.
Third-party investigator finds unfair treatment
Hoang grieved his treatment through his union and a third-party labour investigator,Robert Henderson, who was hired to review his case. CBCNews has not seen Henderson's report, but Hoang's human rights complaint quotes from Henderson'sfindings.
Henderson found Hoang was subjected to "inconsistent, unequal and unfair treatment." The labour investigator also said if the constable's performance issues were as serious as his supervisors indicated, Hoang should have been charged with negligence and investigated by professional standards,not subjected to disciplinary measures that didn't follow any of the force's internal policies.
According to Hoang's complaint, the top five Ottawa police executives and the chief "permitted harassment and targeting to continue against the applicant" by denying Hoang the ability to clear his name in a formal disciplinary hearing, therefore blocking his path topromotion.
Hoang's lawyer, Elie Labaky, said pursuing resolution through thehuman rights tribunal allows his client toseek a remedy beyond a promotion.
"The human rights tribunal route actually affords complainants something the grievance route doesn't. It's basically a public interest remedy. They can ask the tribunal for something bigger, [suchas] a review of a policy or the development of a program," he said.
4 race-based human rights complaints
Hoang is one of four police officers who are alleging racial discrimination in active human rights complaints.
The other three officers includeInsp.Samir Bhatnagar, who claims he was harassed and passed over for promotion; Const. Matt Clarke, who previously told CBChe was the target of bullying while working at the Ottawa International Airport;and Const. Pat Lafrenire, who is ofIndigenous heritage.
In an interview Monday, Bordeleau saidhe's disappointed any member of the force feels unfairly treated.
In response to Hoang's allegations that Bordeleau hasignored discrimination within the force, Bordeleau said there have been four black officers promoted to the rank of inspector and above, and that three of those promotions occurred under his leadership.
Bordeleau also expressedoptimism that visible minority officers will benefit from the changes of an upcoming diversity audit. Theforce will choose a consultant to conduct theaudit later this month, and officers of colour will be interviewed about anybarriers they facein the organization.
The race and diversity audit was promised afterthe fatal arrest of Abdirahman Abdi in July 2016.
Ottawa police also made changes following an earlier human rights tribunal decision that found the force discriminated against a female officer. After the 2015 ruling, Ottawa police conducted a gender audit and made changes in how women officers are treated. Now at least one woman must sit on the selection panels that decide who gets promoted and transferred. Decisions made by the panels are reviewed by an outside party to ensure objectivity, and officers on these panels are now get trained on how to conduct "bias-neutral" interviews.
"We were able to make changes based on the information and evidence we were able to gather [in our gender audit] and we will do the same thing following our diversity audit. And if there are barriers that exist within the police service, we will fix those," Bordeleau said.
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