The Tribunal and Employment Discrimination

sexual assault: The Tribunal found that OPT and MPT were subjected to sexual advances and solicitation, sexual assault and harassment, employment discrimination on the basis of sex, and a sexually poisoned work environment, according to Rabble. The Tribunal held that OPT, in particular, was harassed continuously by Pratas, who confiscated her passport upon her arrival, threatened her with deportation, and repeatedly sexually assaulted her. It awarded two of the 40 plaintiffs, known only in court documents as OPT and MPT, more than $200,000 in damages, the largest sum it has ever awarded, with the other plaintiffs reaching a settlement earlier with Presteve Foods. OPT and MPT, who were granted Canadian permanent residency on humanitarian and compassionate grounds and are now working in Windsor, Ontario, are "doing okay after the trial and are gratified by the decision…they appreciate that their voices were heard and that they were believed," says Unifor labour lawyer Niki Lindquist, who represented the plaintiffs. OPT and MPT tried to get assistance before this and told an immigration officer what was going on, to no avail. Testifying during the tribunal led OPT and MPT, who do not speak English and used a translator during the hearings, to relive the trauma of their abuse while they were vigorously cross-examined. "I've never been involved in a hearing this contentious," Lindquist observes, "and I imagine OPT and MPT are still dealing with the after-effects." She notes further that, "it was an eight year process to get this case heard. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.