Canada Post carrier says nothing being done about repeated homophobic harassment at work

A letter carrier with Canada Post says he’s been harassed repeatedly at work because he is gay and has filed official complaints but nothing has been done.

The worker, who CTV News is calling Fred, says he’s never experienced anything like the homophobic harassment he’s been getting at work for the past year.

He says he felt “destroyed” when last year he discovered one of his co-workers had written his name inside a drawing of a penis in the office bathroom.

The graffiti continued for months and his desk and delivery truck were also defaced with the word “p-d,” a derogatory term for gay men in French.

The final straw, he says, was when a letter containing similar slurs was sent to his home address.

“After seven months, I said to myself that’s enough stress,” he said in an interview.

He says he was constantly worried about where and when the next insult was coming and went on stress leave. When he returned to work in April, he says the graffiti immediately started again and nothing has been done to stop it.

In all, Fred says he’s filed five official complaints with the head of operations at the post office on Bridge Street with the Human Rights Commission and with the police. He says he’s exhausted all of his options and still doesn’t know which of his co-workers is behind the homophobic graffiti.

“It’s not normal,” he said of the harassment.

Canada Post says the situation is being investigated and steps have been taken to increase security at the Bridge Street office.

“We have a zero tolerance policy toward inappropriate behaviour and discrimination of any kind in the workplace,” the postal service said in a statement to CTV News. “When an incident occurs, or allegations are brought forward, we take them seriously and act on each one.”

Fred says he’s happy to work at a place that values diversity but says in his experience it’s not what the company delivers.

He says he really only wants one thing: for the harassment to stop and for his life to go back to normal.