Town Employee Can Sue Both the Town and GN for Sex Harassment

In March, a Nunavut court ruled that a government employee could sue both her employer, the Hamlet of Pangnirtung, and the Government of Nunavut for failing to protect her from her supervisor’s unwanted touching, sexually inappropriate comments and other sexual harassment. The GN appealed, claiming that it had no responsibility for how the Hamlet ran its workplace and supervised its employees and asked the territory’s top court, the Court of Appeal to reverse the ruling. But the Court said the lower court’s decision that the employee had a valid legal claim that wasn’t vexatious, frivolous or abusive was reasonable and let it stand. Result: Barring a settlement, the employee will get a chance to prove her claims at trial [Jane Doe v Government of Nunavut, 2021 NUCA 15 (CanLII), October 6, 2021].