Former UCP staffer files lawsuit against premier’s office, alleges sexual harassment, heavy drinking

Posted Oct 27, 2021 11:27 am.

Last Updated Oct 28, 2021 6:20 am.

A new lawsuit alleges the Alberta premier’s office is a toxic place to work and that a former staffer was fired for drawing attention to the issues there.

Ariella Kimmel, who used to work for the UCP as a chief of staff, has issued a statement of claim against the Office of the Premier, alleging she worked in a poisoned work environment that involved sexual harassment and heavy drinking in some of the Legislature offices.

CityNews can confirm that a statement of claim has been brought against the Office of the Premier by an employee who alleges she worked in a poisoned work environment and was fired for speaking out about the problems she witnessed, including sexual harassment. #yeg #yyc #ableg

— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) October 27, 2021

The statement of claim says on Oct. 21, 2020, Ivan Bernardo, a principal secretary in Jason Kenney’s government who “was known for making sexual comments”, made an inappropriate comment toward one of Kimmel’s staff members.

The woman felt humiliated by the degrading comment, Kimmel’s suit says.

The premier’s office, along with several other ministers, was made aware of the sexual comments made toward the staffer, but the statement claims no action was taken. Kimmel says in the claim that she was specifically told Bernardo would not be fired and that he would instead be allowed to finish his contract, which would not be renewed.

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The suit also says the former staffer witnessed high-level officials, including Agriculture Minister Devin Dreeshen and then-Health Minister Tyler Shandro, drinking alcohol in their offices with colleagues on separate occasions and some had been “heavily intoxicated”.

On one specific occasion, Kimmel says she encouraged Dreeshen, with whom she had been in an on-again-off-again relationship, to ease up on the drinking. The claim alleges he responded by berating her to the point of Kimmel being in tears and a bystander having to intervene.

Kimmel says that when media reported on ministers travelling over last year’s COVID-19 holiday season, she was wrongfully accused of leaking the travel information and was terminated a short time after.

Kimmel not terminated for reasons laid out in lawsuit, Kenney’s office says

The Office of the Premier says it can’t comment on the specifics of Kimmel’s sexual harassment claim, but the kind of behaviour outlined has no place in the workplace or society.

"Sexual harassment is abhorrent, and has no place in our workplaces or society."

Statement issued by Pam Livingston, the Chief of Staff to the Premier regarding lawsuit launched against the Premier's office today. #yeG #yyc #ableg pic.twitter.com/nCHC0VOwUX

— Courtney Theriault (@cspotweet) October 27, 2021

“This Government has zero-tolerance for harassment and takes all allegations of this nature very seriously,” said Pam Livingston, the Chief of Staff to the Premier in a statement.

“We cannot comment on the specifics of confidential human resource matters, but note that Mr. Bernardo has not been an employee of the Government of Alberta since December 2020.”