‘Difficult’ Testimony Heard By Senators In Don Meredith Harassment Case
OTTAWA — Two Parliament Hill staffers who experienced alleged workplace harassment and sexual abuse from former senator Don Meredith appeared before a Senate committee Thursday, nearly seven years after concerns were flagged to human resources.
They were “not at all grilled” by senators, said Brian Mitchell, the lawyer representing the two former female staffers. He described the exchanges inside the closed-door meeting as a “helpful dialogue.”
After the meeting, one victim told HuffPost Canada after feeling for years that her case had been ignored by the Senate, she felt a weight lift off her shoulders for the first time since she told human resources what was going on behind Meredith’s closed doors.
HuffPost reported on the staffers’ experiences working in Meredith’s office in 2017, including allegations of verbal abuse and unwanted touching among other explicit acts.
Listen: In 2017 interview, former staffer alleges senator ‘trapped’ her in his office. Story continues below video.
Senators packed the inside of the committee room to listen to their testimonies before the upper chamber’s internal economy, budgets and administration committee.
The same committee is currently studying a new proposed anti-harassment policy.
“It was important that the victims have the opportunity to speak and to communicate their trauma that they suffered,” Mitchell told reporters after his clients’ testimonies. “When you hear difficult testimony like that it’s important, by listening, that they take the appropriate actions, which they I’m sure will for the future.”
HuffPost reported last year that an apology and financial compensation was an option at least one senator suggested would be an appropriate recourse for the victims’ multi-year ordeal. Mitchell did not confirm Thursday if that was the route the former Senate staffers have decided on.
“Let’s be clear here. What happened here was wrong. It has to be addressed,” he said,...
