Harassment complaint: Ontario NDP blames union contract after unjust termination of staffer [Video]

Ontario NDP Leader Marit Stiles is blaming the party’s collective agreement with its unionized workforce after an employee who filed a sexual harassment complaint against a sitting MPP was terminated by the New Democrats even after the party verified the claim.

Shortly after Stiles took over as NDP leader in early 2023, the party launched an independent workplace harassment investigation into MPP Michael Mantha and eventually ejected Mantha from caucus after the allegations were deemed to be true.

The complaint stemmed back to August 2022, when an unnamed assistant in Mantha’s Algoma-Manatoulin Island constituency office complained to the party that she was working in an unsafe environment.

The complainant alleged that she was asked for sexually explicit photos, received unwanted physical contact and was subjected to comments about her appearance, which an arbitrator later said was substantiated by the independent investigator.

“It’s shocking,” Stiles said. “These are very serious allegations (and) the …