Quote Originally Posted by kellynjk View Post
I think it depends on what kind of documented evidence the complainant has. The Human Rights Code defines harassment as "engaging in a course of vexatious (annoying or provoking) comment or conduct which is known or ought reasonably to be known to be unwelcome." It goes on to give examples of what type of behaviour might be considered "sexual harassment" which does include things like asking for dates and not taking no for an answer, or making jokes or comments about a person's appearance, making sexual jokes or bragging about sexual ability etc. It sounds like the complainant is outlining in the brief some examples of this kind of behaviour.

But it's not always straight-forward. There was case of "sexual harassment" made at a place I worked at about a decade ago and although the company did have a process in place to deal with such complaints, it did eventually go to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The Tribunal did not did not side with the complainant because the evidence didn't really support it. It really came down to a case of "she said / he said" as the two individuals involved knew each other and were friendly and he asked her out a number of times and flirted with her etc. Basically he thought he was being charming and she felt like he wouldn't take no for an answer. The company ended up sending the guy to "sensitivity training (which included harassment) and put her on a special project which meant they didn't interact on a daily basis anymore.

I'm sure the Argo's legal team has also looked at the claim (talked to some of their management and team players) and maybe suggested that the case and evidence might not meet the level of harassment under the Code or could be open to interpretation.

But Paul is right the longer this draws out, I think from a PR point of view, the worse it looks for the Argos. I think it will overshadow training camp and the upcoming season until it gets resolved one way or another.
Without a doubt, this has cast a pall on the off-season for the Argos and CFL and will continue to be a big story in a month from now when training camp opens, unless there is some kind of resolution by then, which I think is doubtful. I think that the best we can hope for is that the results of the CFL's external investigation comes out within the next month but who knows if that will even happen?

The only positive to the Argos getting little media attention these days is that media scrutiny hasn't been terribly intense to this point. Could you imagine if such allegations were made about Auston Matthews? There would be a media feeding frenzy on a daily basis - both locally and nationally.