In a filing made in a
“The allegations made by the plaintiff fall well short of conduct that amounts to sexual harassment or discrimination,"
The company and Giamatteo want the court to throw out claims the plaintiff made suggesting she had encountered a hostile work environment, discriminatory pay and unpaid wages. They also want allegations about negligent hiring and failure to prevent harassment and discrimination to be dropped.
The plaintiff, who is a woman of colour, told The Canadian Press when she filed her lawsuit in April that Giamatteo had "tried to get close to her" and "woo" her, after he became the president of
The woman known as
When she reported the behaviour, she said she started being cut out of meetings and later, was told she was being terminated effective immediately as part of a “restructuring.”
In the new court filings, the company and Giamatteo say the plaintiff lost her job at
The filings say the plaintiff's position fit into neither portion of the business and they felt she was "a poor fit to be placed in a new or different role because she had engaged in a long-term pattern of antagonistic and demeaning conduct toward colleagues, leading to a negative and toxic culture that surrounded her."
In the two months prior to the plaintiff being let go, the documents say, a female employee reporting to her took medical leave to "address mental health issues caused by (the) plaintiff’s abusive behaviour, and another employee ... quit on the spot when (the) plaintiff insisted he work around the clock on a weekend to complete a project on an unrealistic timeline."
"Although a favourite of (former
They add that the plaintiff was offered the option to resign, but she declined.
The plaintiff's lawyer,
"Now they submit a filing that doesn't even tie to the law," she said in an email.
Days after her client's termination,
The plaintiff previously told The Canadian Press the move left her feeling shocked but she decided to pursue legal action because she felt if she was "silenced" it wouldn't help other women.
"I feel like I have a responsibility, particularly having been at the executive level, to help other women, whether that is other women in
"I am hoping that if they can hear my story, that that will help give them strength."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published
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