SFL president Larry Hubich is involved in a complaint, currently before the Labour Relations Board, in which his assistant is alleging her union failed to represent her when she claimed she was the victim of harassment on the job. (CBC)

An assistant to Larry Hubich, the president of the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, claims her union did not represent her fairly in a complaint against her boss.

Cara Banks, executive assistant to Hubich, has been off the job on a medical leave, since the end of March.

She accuses her boss of bullying and harassing her, allegations Hubich has denied.

Banks' complaint, of poor representation by CUPE local 4828, is currently being heard by the Labour Relations Board.

The board was set to hear details on the case from witnesses on Friday but ended up setting new dates for the complaint, due to issues that arose about the disclosure of documents. The matter was scheduled to be back before the board on dates in February and March of 2013.

A vice-president of the SFL, Rosalee Longmoore, issued a news release Friday saying the organization would not be commenting on the matter.

The release also noted that SFL president, Hubich, has "excused himself from any deliberations on the issue" by the SFL.

Longmoore's release said the SFL has proposed to have a formal investigation launched, to be carried out by an independent investigator.

It was not clear when that proposal would be acted upon.

Past complaint

This is not the first time an employee of the SFL has complained about the work environment.

Garnet Dishaw was fired by the SFL in 2005. He also went before the Labour Relations Board to accuse his union — at that time the Canadian Office and Professional Employees Union, local 397 — of failing to properly represent him. According to materials from the Labour Relations Board, Dishaw and Hubich had had a bitter dispute which deteriorated into a yelling match in the office after everyone else had gone home.

In that case, the board dismissed Dishaw's application, saying he had waited too long to bring it forward.

Hubich has been president of the SFL since 2002 and a leading official in the organization for eight years prior to becoming president.

With files from CBC's Stefani Langenegger