Black Class Action Lawsuit puts forward a motion to have groundbreaking report introduced as evidence

BY PAUL JUNOR

There were many twists and turns as the plaintiffs in the $2.5 billion class action lawsuit by Black federal workers went through the hearing. In a surprise move, the plaintiffs put forward an emergency motion on Thursday, November 7^th, 2024, to have an explosive, surprising and potentially damning new report included as evidence.

The report conducted by Dr. Rachel Zellers was commissioned by the Black Executive Network (BEN-REN) and funded by the Government of Canada. There are some serious findings which have been unearthed from the report which have led to widespread response from diverse individuals.

At a press conference on Friday, November 8^th, 2024, details of the report were released at the Federal Court of Canada by the Black Class Action Lawsuit. The title of the report is “A Study of The Black Executive Community in The Federal Public Service.” This peer-reviewed study was done over two years, and it is the first comprehensive examination of the systemic barriers and discriminatory practices faced by Black leaders in the federal public service. Dr. Zellers describes some of the key findings from the report, “Formal and informal complaints are regularly being used, maliciously and vexatiously to harm Black leaders.100% of completed investigations documented during the study were unfounded.”

She mentioned that the study was projected to be completed by December 2023, but there were unexpected findings that came out from the interviews that she was conducting. She notes, “Black executives shared the tremendous distress they experienced navigating formal complaint processes they described as deliberately harmful and that were ultimately determined to be unfounded.”

Dr. Zellers elaborates further on the findings she obtained in Phase 2 of the study when she conducted an additional 30 interviews on complaints. She observes, “Black employees continued to email me in distress. Black leaders were subjected to 18-to-24-month invasive investigation after being removed from their leadership positions. After experiencing extreme health impacts: lasting depressions, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart and breathing problems, suicidality, all caused by a: humiliating, exhausting, isolating, and unjust complaint process. Importantly, complainants were never punished. Rather, they simply moved on to another person or retired.”

Some of the startling statistics released from the study include:

• 50 % of Black female executives shared these experiences
• Haitian women and African women executives reported in disproportionate high numbers
• Black men described devastating experiences with lengthy complaint processes

Nicholas Marcus Thompson, CEO of the BCAS states at the press conference, “These accounts are disturbing, but not surprising, because they echo what we have been hearing from Black public service workers for years. Even when Black workers make it in the executive positions, they are met with unbearably hostile working environments, insubordination from direct reports, and career stagnation.”

Alisha Kang, National President for the Union of National Employees states, “We know that this is only the tip of the iceberg because this study is just the latest in a long list of federal reports commissioned by the government confirming systemic discrimination in the public service. We heard it in the Senate Report on discrimination, in the Canadian Human Rights Commission and we heard it in the internal audit on discrimination in the Privy Council Office.”

Jennifer Carr, President of the Professional Institute for the Public Service of Canada states, “We need to have the government come to the table and give us more than performative words; the grievance system has failed our Black members; it’s not a place where we can truly trust.”