Complainant in Murdoch Carriere case criticizes government
Last Updated: Monday, March 19, 2007 | 10:45 AM CT
CBC News
A Saskatchewan woman who was compensated after alleging she was harassed by Murdoch Carriere says she has been mistreated by the government.
The woman said she and eight other women who lodged complaints against the former civil servant were paid $15,000 each in compensation by the provincial government, while Carriere received $275,000.
"At the drop of a hat, they just paid him out a small fortune and us, the victims, we got diddly-squat in the big scheme of things," said the woman, who cannot be identified because of a court-ordered publication ban. "Where's the fairness there?"
Carriere, their boss, the former director of fire management and forest protection in Prince Albert, was fired in 2003 over the allegations.
He sued the province and several newspapers after a government report dealing with the allegations was leaked to the media.
In February, the government paid him $275,000 in an out-of-court settlement. The opposition Saskatchewan Party has attacked the NDP government in the legislature over its handling of the case.
In 2006, Carriere was convicted of assaulting two former employees, but he was found not guilty of two counts of sexual assault.
The woman said she's not only upset with Carriere, but as a loyal employee, she thinks the government has taken advantage of her, too.
No negotiations
"More than half of my life, you know, I've given this government," she said.
She said it's not fair, because while Carriere was able to negotiate his settlement, the government dictated hers.
"We couldn't negotiate a price. We couldn't do anything. 'Take it or leave it,' is what they said to us," she said.
She took the compensation, but said the Carriere situation still haunts her. That's in part because she still works with people she says looked the other way for too long.
"All of his minions are still working out there, all of the people that covered his butt," she said. "That's the one thing that I can't understand. Why they didn't do a total housecleaning?"
While she said the workplace is still unhealthy, she added the healing could start if she received an apology from the people who let the problem continue.
