Wednesday, May 22, 2013

RCMP S/Sgt. O'Farrell Lawsuit

The RCMP has once again attracted the attention of the media with the news that RCMP S/Sgt. Caroline O’Farrell is suing the RCMP for issues related to sexual harassment and abuse. These alleged incidents apparently happened between 1986-87. Why has O’Farrell waited over 25 years to initiate this legal action? The $8+million lawsuit claims her career was compromised. Having attained the rank of S/Sgt it may be a challenge to prove that point.

As far as the allegations are concerned, there are probably many RCMP members that will attest they may have endured similar hazing traditions, including her claim of ‘horse troughing”. While today’s environment does not condone that type of conduct, the RCMP of 30+ years ago reacted in a less severe tone to those activities. O’Farrell ought to have known when she applied for the Musical Ride that she was breaking down the last RCMP bastion of male dominance. She would have been very naive to think that they would have rolled out the red carpet for her and even more immature to expect that she would be immune from hazing traditions. Years ago, there were many RCMP members that were subjected to group administered sanctions that would be unacceptable today. Even though some of those less than memorable experiences may have upset some members, they let go and moved on.

From my perspective, it would appear that O’Farrell may be trying to apply today’s standard of intolerance to events that happened decades ago and under entirely different circumstances. The timing and motivation is highly questionable.

No comments: