In an ultimate twist of public-sector irony, a report revealed that Shirish Chotalia, former chairperson of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, constantly violated the rights of her own employees.  As the Ottawa Citzen reports, “According to evidence and witness testimony, Chotalia ordered staff to spy on an employee at work and report his or her movements and actions to her. She repeatedly tried to fire an employee without justifiable reason and retaliated against employees who did not accept her wishes or defended others against her verbal abuse.”  She even forced her employees to stay put during the deadly Ottawa earthquake of 2010 so that she could be sworn in.  Talk about a tyrant!

But where do you go for help when your human-rights-violating boss is in charge of the human-rights court?  As it turns out, the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner himself had to turn the case over to a deputy because of his own previous “professional interactions” with the supposed Stalin of the CHRT.  But the findings in the Chotalia case determined that her conduct “was the most egregious he has encountered in his two-and-a-half years as commissioner,” according to the Citizen.  Here’s what else the Citizen reported on the report:

• Chotalia, who was appointed to the post on Nov. 2, 2009, harassed and abused eight CHRT employees, as well as several appointed tribunal members.
• During meetings, she behaved in a way that was “belittling and humiliating” toward individuals, often raising personal health issues or unjustifiably blaming them for errors.
• On more than one occasion, her public humiliations reduced her targets to tears.
• Chotalia often made unreasonable requests, such as working outside regular hours and being available around the clock by BlackBerry without additional pay.
• In one case, she required an employee to carry a set of keys to the office around their neck, even though the person complained that this caused discomfort and pain.
• She also asked people to come to work when they were on sick leave and to work while on holidays.
• Chotalia spoke about not trusting her employees and frequently accused some of stealing items from her, such as documents or binders, when she was unable to locate them.
• She also often made “unrealistic requests” to her human resources service provider, such as wanting to de-unionize CHRT employees.  And this one’s my favourite:
• Many witnesses confirmed that she told them there was a conspiracy against her.  She reportedly told one person “I was chosen by a Conservative government, I am a brown woman from Alberta and the unions want to remove me.”

Now, who knew that unions were racist—against people from Alberta!?  Alas, if the findings of this 2011-2012 investigation are only just now coming to light, it’s because the accused never took the stand in her defence before leaving her 256K-a-year position nearly a year ago.  No word as to whether she’s been offered a similar role with the Government of China.