earlier this year, when I misplaced my employee lunch box – the key to enjoying lunch discounts – the head of produce accompanied me to the Head of Administration Department, Patricia, whom I had never spoken to before, to purchase a replacement. Upon providing payment to Patricia, she warned me that if I were to lose the box again, I would no longer be entitled to the employee lunch discount. This statement deeply hurt me. However, at that time, I was unaware of the potential illegality of Patricia's actions under Ontario law, as my employer had not informed me about workplace harassment policies. As a new employee, I hesitated to speak out.
It wasn't until September of this year, based on the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), that I recognized the situation as workplace harassment. I formally complained about Patricia's actions to the HR representative of the store, via email on September 28th. Unfortunately, I did not receive any response, even after following up on October 11th.
On October 19th, I filed a third complaint about the harassment through Integrity Action Line, an initiative operated by Loblaw, the parent company of T&T. This time, T&T pledged to conduct an investigation promptly.
During this period, in a meeting unrelated to my complaint, the store manager, William Zhao, acknowledged being present when Patricia made inappropriate comments. However, he dismissed it as a joke, which was not accurate, as I had never engaged in conversation with her, and making jokes with strangers is uncommon. The meeting, conducted in Chinese as we all came from China, was recorded by HR representative . I informed T&T about the recording.
On November 19th, I shared information about workplace harassment laws and policies with my colleagues in the employee webchat group. In response, William Zhao threatened and removed me from the group, claiming my actions were illegal. I firmly believe that, in accordance with the constitution of Canada and Ontario law, I have the right to share such information with my colleagues. I filed a complaint about William Zhao's actions with the employer.
On November 20th, T&T provided me with a report on my complaint against Patricia but remained silent about the meeting recording, concluding that no harassment had occurred.
On November 22nd, I filed a complaint with the Ministry of Labour via email regarding the harassment. Subsequently, I shared the harassment incident on the York BBS on November 25th.
Around 10:30 AM on November 27th, HR representative, accompanied by the head of produce, requested that I delete the York BBS post, threatening termination if I refused. With my agreement, the hr recorded the meeting and later emailed the audio recording to me, reiterating the threat on behalf of T&T.
On November 28th, an inspector visited the Promenade store, informing the employer about my complaint and warning against retaliation. On the same day, the HR manager, whose name I don't know, dispatched the store manager and the head of produce to request a meeting. Suspecting it was another attempt to intimidate me, I declined.
On November 29th, the HR manager negotiated with me about the upcoming meeting's time, place, and participants, which I eagerly anticipated.
On November 30th, T&T sent me two emails. One contained a termination letter, and the other, in Chinese, indicated restrictions on discussing Ontario laws and T&T policies on workplace harassment. Despite this, I firmly believe that, in accordance with the constitution of Canada and Ontario law, I have the right to share information about laws and policies with my colleagues. I find William Zhao's actions unacceptable and contest the legality of T&T's investigation outcome.
I have now requested the Ministry of Labour inspector to consider issuing an order for T&T to appoint an impartial investigator to examine both of my complaints.
Due to my application to join the union at the beginning of November and my active involvement in organizing union activities, T&T Supermarket is already aware of my unionization efforts. Consequently, the union believes that T&T Supermarket is also in violation of legal provisions by retaliating against my unionization. Therefore, on these grounds, the union has filed a complaint on my behalf with the Labour Relations Board. I believe that the union's complaint, in conjunction with my assertion that T&T Supermarket is retaliating against me for reporting to the labor department, is not contradictory and justifies initiating legal proceedings.
The union has already submitted an application to the Labour Relations Board on December 9th.
I have submitted evidence materials to the office of worker advise and applied for them to represent me in the lawsuit. Now, I am waiting for their response.