A female police officer who worked at the North Vancouver RCMP detachment filed a civil suit in B.C. Supreme Court Jan. 8 alleging she was sexually harassed and shunned during her time as a cop.
Shelley Whitelaw’s allegations — none of which have been proven in court — describe systemic humiliation that sabotaged her career and left her dealing with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Whitelaw’s career with the RCMP began when she was stationed in Grand Rapids, Manitoba, to finish her field recruit training.
In two separate incidents, Whitelaw’s superior officer in Grand Rapids pulled her pants down and “quickly and aggressively” put his hands on her body in a sexual manner after drunkenly trying to break into her trailer home, according to the claim.
Whitelaw’s claim also describes the officer throwing empty beer bottles at her police vehicle while drunk at a fishing derby. He had assigned Whitelaw to patrol the derby, according to the suit.
Fearful for her physical and mental health, Whitelaw resigned when refused a transfer from what her claim described as an: “unsafe and toxic” workplace.
Whitelaw reapplied to the RCMP in 1996, where she claims she was sent on high-risk assignments without adequate training and without body armour.
After reporting an incident in which a higher-ranking officer allegedly used excessive force when arresting a youth, Whitelaw was ordered to surrender her gun and badge and undergo a psychological assessment, according to the claim.
Despite being pronounced fit for duty, the psychologist initiated the process to discharge Whitelaw based on what the claim refers to as: “vague reference to an unsuitable personality.”
After a stint at the Vancouver Airport detachment, Whitelaw tried to get a transfer to North Vancouver but was initially refused based on “destructive rumours,” according to the suit.
The detachment accepted her transfer in 2001 but Whitelaw’s claim describes an “undercurrent of contempt” from her first days in North Vancouver.
While working in the North Vancouver detachment’s traffic section, Whitelaw found other officers were “extremely rude, hostile and verbally aggressive.”
After filing a harassment complaint, which she says was inadequately investigated, Whitelaw was wrongfully accused of submitting false claims, according to the suit.
After feeling overwhelmed by “constant attacks on her character, reputation and dignity,” Whitelaw went on medical leave from the RCMP in 2005.
While on leave, Whitelaw claims an RCMP psychologist breached her confidentiality by discussing her medical condition “at length” with other officers, and “destroyed the potential for . . . any further career in the RCMP.”
Whitelaw is seeking punitive and exemplary damages on the grounds that general and aggravated damages — which she is also seeking — aren’t enough to address the “high-handed, malicious, arrogant and arbitrary behaviour” of the RCMP officers named in the suit.
The RCMP has not yet filed a statement of defence.
