A newly released report reveals that 37 employees at the Department of Justice faced discipline last year for misconduct, including falsified credentials, harassment, and a fraudulent insurance claim.Blacklock's Reporter says the First Annual Report on Addressing Misconduct and Wrongdoing at the department, released Wednesday, details 27 formal cases resulting in measures ranging from written reprimands to firings. Additional employees received verbal warnings or were referred to mediation. No names were disclosed.Investigators cited multiple incidents of harassment and workplace violence, including one manager who was suspended without pay following founded harassment complaints. Another senior counsel was suspended after aggressively yelling and using inappropriate language toward a colleague, part of 10 suspensions tied to harassment, violence, or unspecified misconduct.Other cases included an employee falsifying an insurance claim, which was resolved through administrative measures, and a staffer fired for providing false documentation during their hiring process. .Additional infractions involved disrespectful emails, intimidating language, misusing government credit cards, downloading unauthorized software, and posting offensive videos online. One employee even attempted to disguise themselves as a security guard to access a restricted IT room.The report emphasizes that it aims to strengthen workplace ethics and foster an inclusive environment. “We will inevitably learn from this first Annual Report,” investigators wrote, highlighting the department’s commitment to improving values and ethics in the workplace.The disclosures follow a 2024 Privy Council directive requiring federal departments to report wrongdoing annually.Previous complaints of misconduct prompted a $166,337 workplace violence risk assessment at Ottawa and Montréal offices in 2020, though the results were never made public.
