The government-funded report based on interviews of senior Black leaders in the federal public service has been released as the federal government faces a $2.5 billion class action concerning allegations that approximately 30,000 Black employees in the federal public service have faced systemic racism since the 1970s.
Counsel for the plaintiffs have filed an emergency motion to have the study introduced as evidence in the 12-day certification hearing, which is set to conclude on Nov. 13.
“Even when Black workers make it into executive positions, they are met with unbearably hostile working environments, insubordination from direct reports and career stagnation,” said CEO of the Black Class Action Secretariat, Nicholas Marcus Thompson, according to a release. Thompson is also the lead plaintiff in the aforementioned class action.
The Black Executives Network / Le Réseau des exécutifs noirs (BEN/REN), was established in July 2020 to support Black executives in the federal public service, while working with the federal government to address issues of systemic and anti-Black racism. According to its report, 62 per cent of Black leaders who were interviewed claimed they had faced workplace harassment, intimidation or the threat of reputational harm from supervisors or senior leaders.
The study was based on interviews with 73 current and former Black public servants who occupied senior roles in the federal public service.
Almost four out of five Black women executives reported facing harassment and intimidation.
The report noted that four Black female executives had shared that they had attempted suicide as a result of workplace harassment in the public service.
One executive described his work environment as a “cesspool of racism” in which he often had to tell people he was in his position because of merit and not because of his race.
The report includes details of instances in which Black executives have faced discrimination, including one incident in which a colleague of a Black executive raised a chair at him and threatened to “beat the ni**er out of him,” during a meeting with other participants.
“Strikingly, no one in the meeting room intervened on his behalf,” the report added.
Additionally, 51 per cent of Black executives interviewed for the report stated that they were explicitly denied career-advancing opportunities.
The report noted that Black executives either were acting in positions without advancement or were given subjective excuses while they were denied opportunities by managers and senior leadership.
“Participants reported losing substantive opportunities to white men, white women and Asian men,” the study noted.
The study also found that 42 per cent of unilingual English-speaking Black public servants struggled to secure the language training to advance in their careers.
The report also noted that 47 per cent of Black women executives reported facing disrespect, insubordination, refusal of supervision by subordinates, as well as a diminishment of voice and power from colleagues.
Several executives interviewed for the study stated that “complaints and threats” were used to punish them for their mistakes. One executive stated that they had witnessed racial harassment that led to the suicide of a black colleague.
A second phase of the study was aimed at Black executives who had faced disciplinary action.
During interviews, Black executives were told that the interviewer was seeking to examine situations where Black executives experienced unfair, biased and/or racially targeted disciplinary actions within the context of departmental grievance processes.
The study asked the executives who had faced disciplinary action whether they could speak about a time when they experienced such unfair, biased or racially targeted disciplinary action.
Black executives interviewed for the study who faced disciplinary action said they faced disproportionate disciplinary measures.
Nearly half of the Black female executives interviewed for the study reported unfair, biased and/or racially targeted disciplinary actions as part of an informal or formal complaints processes.
The report recommended that the federal government implement a zero-tolerance policy for anti-Black harassment and called for increasing representation of Black executives across all levels.
Additionally, it recommended that a Black Equity Commissioner be created to evaluate all federal public service systems, policies and practices through a “diversity, inclusion, equity,and anti-Black racism lens.”
The Treasury Board Secretariat did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
If you have any information, story ideas, or news tips for Law360 Canada on business-related law and litigation, including class actions, please contact Karunjit Singh at karunjit.singh@lexisnexis.ca or 905-415-5859.