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A thirty-year veteran federal public service employee is joining the growing number of Black civil servants in Canada who say they have been subjected to systemic racism in a class action lawsuit lodged late last year.
Monica Agard, who spend decades with the Immigration and Refugee Board, told CBC News that a senior colleague was made her supervisor even after making a comment praising “the good old days when we had slaves” to her. Agard says she filed a formal notice about the comment, but her complaint was ignored and the man made her supervisor mere months later. Eventually, Agard said he was transferred, but only after she objected.
“In my heart, I believe that there are some underlying racial tones to this, because why would you make comments like that?” Agard told reporters. “The comments themselves are clearly racist.”
Agard is joining a group of Black civil servants in Canada who say that they have suffered systemic racism in the form of lower income, lost promotions, and a hostile work environment while employed with the government. A $900 million class action lawsuit was filed in December 2020 and listed 50 departments and agencies in Canada’s government where Black civil servants are underrepresented and earn less than their white counterparts.
According to the systemic discrimination class action lawsuit, Canada’s efforts to combat racism and inequality have effectively hidden the marginalization of Black Canadians and deprived them of equal access to opportunities.
The proposed class action lawsuit was filed by 12 plaintiffs on behalf of Black federal public service employees who faced systemic discrimination related to hiring and promotions since 1970. Around 30,000 Black civil servants have been deprived of “opportunities and benefits afforded to others based on their race” since the 1970s, claims the class action lawsuit.
For its part, the government of Canada has said it had taken steps to address anti-Black racism, systemic discrimination and injustice, including assigning $12 million over three years towards a diversity and inclusion center in the Federal Public Service.
However, several months after the Black civil servants’ class action lawsuit was filed, Canada reportedly hired a top law firm to fight the action, despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau publicly admitting that racism and discrimination exists across public-sector institutions.
The number of Class Members has grown as well, with more than 500 Black civil servants coming forward since the claim was filed, including Agard.
“Sometimes when you suffer, you think you suffer alone,” Agard told CBC News reporters of her decision to come forward. “It’s always stronger together.”
The class action lawsuit has since been updated with a demand for at least $100 million from the federal government to fund an interim mental health fund to help current and former Black civil servants deal with the trauma they faced while at work.
“Some of our class members have shared that they’ve had suicidal attempts. They’ve thought about ending their life because it has become so challenging, so difficult to show up for work every day,” one of the lead plaintiffs told CBC News.
Have you or someone you know experienced discrimination as a federal public service employee? Tell us your story in the comments section below.
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One thought on Black Civil Servants Detail Racism, ‘Slave’ Comment in $900M Class Action Lawsuit Against Canada
I applied for a job at the dockyard as a grill cook in the cafeteria,when I was very young.I worked for about a month and they told me they had to let me go because I was attracting to much attention ……