(Cochrane, AB) – In recent months, Cochrane Administration and Council have been actively involved in two Occupational Health & Safety (OH&S) workplace investigations.
On January 23, 2024, an OH&S complaint was filed by a Town of Cochrane staff member, alleging Councillor Fedekyo of harassing behaviour. OH&S notified the Town of this complaint on February 20, 2024. When an organization is notified of an OH&S complaint, they are legally and legislatively mandated to complete a thorough investigation. Given the unusual circumstance of a complaint of this nature being filed against a member of Council and to ensure an impartial and unbiased process, the Town chose to engage a third-party legal resource with expertise in this field to complete this process.
On February 7, 2024, an OH&S complaint was filed by Councillor Fedeyko, alleging that she was the experiencing harassing behaviour in work as a member of Council. OH&S notified the Town of this complaint on February 14, 2024. Given the similar nature of the subject matter and in a cost-conscious effort, the same third-party was engaged to investigate these allegations. At the conclusion of this investigation, the external third party determined that the allegations made by Councillor Fedeyko were unfounded and she had not been exposed to harassing behaviour.
The investigation report regarding the staff complaint clearly determined that an unsafe workplace was being created by Councillor Fedeyko’s actions. Under OH&S legislation an organization is mandated to take appropriate action resulting from an investigation. Town Administration has reviewed and updated relevant policies, instituted staff and Council interaction protocols, and took all prudent measures to maintain and enhance the safety of our workplace which lie within their areas of authority. Administration also provided the report to Council for them to consider actions of direct accountability for Councillor Fedeyko, as Council as a body is responsible for holding accountable individual members of Council.
As a result of this review, a code of conduct complaint was filed by a member of Council against Councillor Fedeyko in accordance with the Council Code of Conduct bylaw. Council determined that no additional investigation was required, due to the OH&S investigative report being completed for OH&S compliance. A special meeting of Council took place on October 2, 2024 to review the code of conduct complaint and investigative report. Following the closed session, Council voted unanimously in support of three resolutions:
Resolution 1: Council finds Councillor Fedeyko in breach of the Code of Conduct Bylaw 12/2018 Section 8.2.
Resolution 2: Having found Councillor Fedeyko in breach of 8.2 of the Code of Conduct Bylaw, that Council read into the record the following motion of censure:
As a consequence of an Occupational Health & Safety complaint filed by an employee in relation to allegations of inappropriate and harassing conduct directed to the employee by Councillor Fedeyko, the Town was required to commission a mandatory investigation into the allegations. The investigative report was complete and received on June 24, 2024. The report outlined an inappropriate and sustained pattern of harassing behaviour which occurred over a period of more than a year. Council is disappointed in this behaviour and the impact it has had on staff and with the unnecessary allocation of resources, both in time and energy and in direct costs. As a result of Councillor Fedeyko’s behaviour the Municipality was exposed to unnecessary risk.
Council is committed to ensuring a safe and respectful working environment and it is expected that Councillor Fedeyko will cease the inappropriate behaviours immediately
and conduct herself in compliance with the Code of Conduct Bylaw and appropriate
workplace decorum. Council believes that it is in the best interest of the public to have
this information to allow them to evaluate Councillor Fedeyko’s behaviour of their own volition.
Resolution 3: Following confirmation by legal counsel, Council direct Administration to make publicly available a copy of the Occupational Health & Safety investigative report related to the Code of Conduct violation subject to such redactions as may be required by law.
“As an employer, we believe it our primary responsibility to ensure a safe workplace for everyone who works at the Town of Cochrane,” said CAO Mike Derricott. “Furthermore, we are under clear legal obligation to do so. Anytime an allegation is brought forward regarding an unsafe workplace, we must ensure our staff are safe in the workplace and do our due diligence to protect the Town from any potential liabilities.”
Derricott added, “Through their code of conduct bylaw, Council has established a joint code which governs the conduct of Councillors. The development of a Council code of conduct bylaw is mandated by the Province and it is the responsibility of Council to hold each other accountable to these jointly established standards for ethical conduct.”
The OH&S report is available on Cochrane.ca/foip.
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