Spiritual-care boss faces grievance

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This article was published 21/05/2009 (6141 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Three hospital chaplains who claim they were bullied by their boss have taken their grievance to the Manitoba Labour Board.

The priest, nun and non-denominational minister say the spiritual-care director of St. Boniface General Hospital verbally abused them.

"It’s an employer-abuse issue," Jacob Giesbrecht, lawyer for the chaplains who are members of the Manitoba Association of Health Care Professionals, told the Free Press on Wednesday.

"The respectful workplace policy was violated again and again."

The arbitration hearing continues today.

Sister Jeannine Corbeil, Father Roland Lanoie and Rev. Carlyle Murrell-Cole each say their boss, spiritual-care director Father Gerry Ward, bullied them.

"There was verbal abuse, threats to undermine their careers, falsely accusing them and labelling them as troublemakers," said Giesbrecht.

"I was accused of going through the secretary’s desk," said Corbeil, in an interview. The nun said she denied it, adding Ward had no proof to back up his accusation. "He said if we were not happy, HR (human resources) would be happy to help us write resumés."

She said her boss accused her of calling other chaplains names and then told her the other chaplains were calling her names.

She said he issued an edict that all emails had to go through him.

"It’s a communication breakdown in the entire department," said Lanoie. "…Everything is confrontational," added the Catholic priest. "A question is confrontational. A comment is taken out of context. Conclusions are arrived at without asking any questions. There’s no possibility of clearing the air."

Lanoie has been a chaplain at the hospital for more than eight years.

Murrell-Cole, who has specialized as a chaplain in the psych ward for more than a decade, was reassigned after a disagreement with Ward, said Giesbrecht.

"His workload doubled… he was kicked out of his office," Giesbrecht said.

When each of the chaplains complained, they were "written up" by the hospital, said Giesbrecht.

Dr. Michel Tétreault, president and CEO of the hospital, was aware of the chaplains’ concerns but did nothing to address the problem, said Giesbrecht.

And the three chaplains who have complained aren’t the first, he said.

"Faced with two chaplains who have already quit, and a priest, a nun and a minister who are complaining — if they don’t uphold their right to a respectful workplace, where does this stop?" asked Giesbrecht.

"These are chaplains — they’re dedicated, pious, religious folk just trying to do their jobs," he said.

The hospital’s lawyer, Ken Maclean, did not return a call for comment from the Free Press late in the day Wednesday.

Arbitrator Arne Peltz denied the hospital’s motion to ban media from covering the hearing, which is expected to last several days.

In the grievance, the chaplains say they want their concerns addressed and have asked for punitive damages.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca