The former director of the Vancouver Police Department's public affairs section says she resigned in June after enduring almost daily bullying and harassment at the hands of a current VPD spokesman.
Sharmini Dee filed a lawsuit in the B.C. Supreme Court last week, naming Sgt. Steve Addison as a defendant, as well as the City of Vancouver, the attorney general and the public safety minister.
Dee was a civilian member of VPD beginning in about 2006 and served directly under the department's chief constable as the head of public affairs starting in fall 2022, according to her lawyer Ron Nairne. Addison, a current media relations officer, worked under Dee from to time of her new appointment until she went on stress leave in September 2023 and later resigned on June 6.
In her lawsuit, Dee claims her choice to leave was a direct result of the way she was treated by Addison and other officers.
She alleges that Addison harassed her on an almost daily basis, telling her she was unsuitable for her job and would fail, and that he should have gotten her position instead. Dee claims Addison was regularly rude and disrespectful to her both in private and in front of other team members. She says Addison would talk over her and interrupt her in meetings and roll his eyes or make other facial gestures while she was speaking. She says he also withheld information for her and disregarded the chain of command.
The lawsuit further alleges that Addison engaged in threatening and intimidating behaviour toward Dee.
“The behaviour demeaned the Plaintiff and limited her career," the lawsuit reads.
It claims that Addison has a history of harassing or bullying female members of the public affairs department and that he has never been disciplined.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
When Black Press Media reached out to VPD for comment, spokesperson Const. Tania Visintin said it would be inappropriate for them to speak to the case while it is before the court.
Dee claims in her lawsuit that she made a formal complaint about Addison to VPD administration and asked that he be reassigned to a different department, but that nothing came of it. Instead, Dee says she was told she had to give Addison time to get used to having her as a supervisor.
The Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner told Black Press Media VPD reported the complaint to them in 2023 and requested that they do an internal investigation. The OPCC says a senior VPD officer determined the allegations were unsubstantiated.
An independent oversight body, the OPCC looks over every complaint decision before either agreeing with the findings or ordering a review of it. In the case of the allegations against Addison, the OPCC said it is still going over VPD's internal investigation findings.
In her lawsuit, Dee says she has been diagnosed with major depressive disorder, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder as the result of Addison's treatment of her.
She is suing Addison for his alleged behaviour and Vancouver, the attorney general and the public safety minister for their alleged negligence in ensuring a safe work environment for her. None of the defendants have filed responses to the claim as of July 30.
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