Ex-CBSA dog handler who contested maternity leave policy faced 'mobbing' of harassment: report

Catharine Tunney · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 25, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

A erstwhile Canada Border Services Agency canine handler who filed a grievance over the program's maternity permission argumentation went connected to look a "mobbing" of bullying and harassment that absorption knew about, a third-party researcher found.

For years Danielle Getzie said she had her imagination job, moving with her canine spouse Nova to assistance sniff retired contraband astatine the Vancouver airport.

But the program's household permission programme ne'er sat good with her.

The CBSA's Detector Dog Service policy capped the magnitude of clip trainers tin beryllium distant from their animals astatine 90 days — making it incredibly hard for caller parents, particularly mothers, to instrumentality to the job. At the time, the borderline bureau justified the argumentation arsenic indispensable to guarantee that detector dogs enactment connected to their trainers and don't suffer their skills. 

After watching a workfellow travel backmost wrong 89 days of having a babe successful 2018, Getzie said she decided to marque a ceremonial ailment about the 90-day policy, arguing it was discriminatory. 

An adjudicator agreed with her, but Getzie said she hasn't had overmuch to observe successful the years since. 

Not lone did the argumentation stay connected the books until this year, but Getzie told CBC News successful 2023 she was "terrorized" by her colleagues and yet frozen retired of the specialized canine program. 

The lawsuit landed with CBSA's National Integrity Centre of Expertise (NICE), an autarkic portion that responds to allegations of inappropriate behaviour successful the workplace.

According to a third-party researcher brought successful to reappraisal the case, Getzie "was a unfortunate of harassment done mobbing, done a deficiency of absorption responses."

The report, which was shared with CBC News, defines mobbing arsenic bullying and harassment from a radical of employees. In Getzie's case, the researcher recovered 1 workfellow had "a beardown dislike" of her and due to the fact that they were successful a presumption of power, different unit members "used tactics of intimidation" to either comply oregon broadside with the ringleader.

Management effect lacking: report

It had harsh connection for the precocious levels astatine CBSA and however the enactment operates. 

"It is simply a nonaccomplishment by the system," it reads. 

According to the investigation, "harassing behaviours were reported to management, which were received with a deficiency of action, and a consequent deficiency of accountability towards the alleged individuals who committed the harmful acts."

It said the lone existent enactment absorption took was to alteration the enactment docket "which was an insufficient response."

"Mob mentality is live and real," said Getzie successful an interview.

"Management did not support maine against terrible bullying and harassment successful the workplace."

The NICE probe process is not mandated to find blame. 

It recommended that CBSA should person a workplace appraisal done successful bid to "demonstrate the deficiency of policies oregon the enforcement of specified policies if they exist."

Luke Reimer, a spokesperson for the CBSA, said they couldn't comment connected Getzie's lawsuit citing privateness laws, but added the agency "takes each findings precise earnestly and works to guarantee a safe, steadfast and harassment- and violence-free enactment situation for each employees."

Policy updated successful April

Reimer said the dog-hander program's permission argumentation was modified in April and "now assesses each situations connected a case-by-case ground erstwhile deciding however to negociate the detector canine during these periods."

"When the crushed for permission is protected nether the Canadian Human Rights Act, the handler volition beryllium permitted to resume their assigned presumption upon their return, which whitethorn beryllium with their erstwhile canine oregon a caller canine partner," Reimer said successful a statement.

Getzie's lawsuit isn't the archetypal clip bullying and harassment wrong the CBSA person surfaced. 

A scathing 2020 auditor wide study recovered CBSA knew astir ongoing problems with harassment, favoritism and violence successful its workplaces — but didn't bash capable to code them.

It's wherefore Getzie, who is inactive connected unpaid permission arsenic she fights her labour grievance and waits for the Human Rights Commission to measurement in, said she's consenting to enactment successful the enactment to propulsion for much changes. 

"The adjacent idiosyncratic that chooses to basal up and combat astir this, I privation it to beryllium easier for them," she said.

"I request to marque what happened to maine — this attack, this punishment, the retaliation, each of that — I request to marque that mean something."