Speech after long silence: 2 original UPEI complainants tell their stories to board members

The University of Prince Edward Island says it's making good on a commitment it made more than a decade ago to two women who came forward in 2012 with complaints of sexual harassment against the university's former president.

The announcement came after a remarkable meeting Tuesday evening at which those two women — Wendy Carroll and Erin Casey — appeared in person to deliver victim impact statements to board of governors members behind closed doors.

After their presentation, Casey spoke briefly to reporters to deliver a prepared statement. She and Carroll declined requests to be interviewed.

"Sharing our stories is an important first step on a path of reflection and, we hope, reconciliation," Casey said, noting that the women had invited the board members "to witness the injustice we've experienced over the past decade" since making their complaints against Alaa Abd-El-Aziz.

Regarding the settlement agreement the two signed with the university in 2013, Casey said the university had never fulfilled one major condition: to implement a new policy with a mechanism for people "to report harassment and discrimination complaints against the president, whoever that might be."

Under the university's existing fair treatment policy, Casey noted, "the president is the final arbiter of all complaints."

Casey said the settlement agreement had required the policy to be adopted by Sept. 30, 2013.

"This agreement is a legally binding contract, but the policy was never adopted by the university," she said. 

"Not following through on this negotiated protection reinforced that reporting was not safe at UPEI. And for those witnessing our experience, it clearly showed what happens to women who report sexual harassment."

After the presentation by Casey and Carroll, the board voted to replace UPEI's fair treatment policy with a new harassment and discrimination policy, one that will incorporate not just the concerns the women raised in 2013, but also recommendations from the Rubin Thomlinson report.

That report, released in June after an independent investigation into allegations of harassment and a toxic work environment at Prince Edward Island's only university, led to the resignation of the board chair at the time and the suspension of vice-president Jackie Podger.

Podger and the university have since parted ways.

In a letter sent out Wednesday to the campus community on behalf of current board chair Shannon MacDonald, the university said the new policy will include specific provisions "regarding complaints against senior administrators." The letter said it will also conform with P.E.I.'s Occupational Health and Safety Act, and will be "trauma-informed and procedurally fair."

As well, the board voted to create a new "Campus Culture Oversight Committee," to provide oversight around implementation of recommendations from the Rubin Thomlinson report.