Former Yukon government employee says she faced discrimination at work

Elise Pendlebury says working as a regional economic advisor with the Yukon government was her dream job, but discrimination on the basis of her political beliefs led to an untenable work situation and eventually her resignation.

The Yukon Human Rights Board of Adjudication heard from Pendlebury and a number of her supervisors this week to determine whether a letter of reprimand the Department of Economic Development sent to Pendlebury in 2020 demonstrated the alleged discrimination.

Pendlebury told the board that her job in Whitehorse required frequent trips to rural communities in the Yukon. She said that her colleagues frequently made negative comments about those communities and the people who lived in them.

Pendlebury said that after returning from her maternity leave in 2016, her husband and child would join her on work trips. The family would stay overnight in their camper and extend the visits.

The government granted Pendlebury's request to move to Watson Lake for a two-year temporary assignment in 2018.

There, she joined the board of the local daycare and worked to re-open it following a year-long closure. 

'Like I was on seismic ground'

In July 2019, Pendlebury received an email from the department's assistant deputy minister, Eric Schroff. 

She said the email came as a shock because according to standard protocols at the government, an assistant deputy minister does not normally contact employees at her level directly. She said Schroff's email mentioned political concerns about an email she had sent. 

That email was followed by a meeting in September where other issues were discussed, including an email sent by the daycare to Watson Lake MLA Patti McLeod.

"I received the message that I should not talk to my MLA," said Pendlebury. "I felt like I was on seismic ground, and it meant I had to take a huge step back from the daycare."

According to Pendlebury's testimony, this meeting led to worsening mental health and five months of leave from her job. 

In the months following her return to work in 2020, the planned tenure for her temporary assignment to Watson Lake became a point of contention. 

And by September of that year, she spoke to the media and made public Facebook posts that referenced not only her personal situation, but her belief that Yukon government employees should not be centralized in Whitehorse.

In the months following the receipt of Schroff's email, Pendlebury resigned from her position.

Schroff told the Human Rights Board of Adjudication this week that Pendlebury was an exceptional employee, and his communications with her were offered with the intention of guidance.

He said that he supported Pendlebury's desire to be in Watson Lake, and agreed that more Yukon government employees should be based in rural communities.

A tentative settlement was reached between the parties at the end of the week. The settlement has yet to be finalized and the details have not been released.