The CISSS de Lanaudière nurse accused of making racist remarks towards an Atikamekw patient in March 2021 will not be fired, an arbitration court ruled on Thursday.
Posted at 5:00 am
Alice Girard-Bossé La Presse
In March 2021, Sylvie Bellemare, a CLSC de Joliette nurse who was trying to soothe her 63-year-old Atikamekw patient, Jocelyne Ottawa, asked her to sing a song in the Atikamekw language and asked her to use the nickname ” Joyce” in her community.
Following media coverage of the intervention, the CISSS de Lanaudière had quickly dismissed the nurse to avoid reliving the crisis caused by the death of Joyce Echaquan six months earlier. A colleague, Julie Duchemin, who was also involved in the patient’s care, had been fired for her “inaction”.
On Thursday, the court ruled in favor of nurse Sylvie Bellemare. The decision regarding his colleague Julie Duchemin should be made in the coming days. “While the Court recognizes that simply referring to Joyce’s first name is not reassuring, it sees no error in it, at least not one serious enough to be punishable. Rather a great awkwardness,” read the verdict.
However, referee Dominique-Anne Roy admitted that asking the patient to sing a nursery rhyme was a mistake. “A 10-day suspension is enough to have the desired deterrent effect,” she said, adding that her decision nullifies the termination.
PHOTO FROM GILBERTE DUBÉ’S FACEBOOK PAGE
Jocelyne Ottawa, Atikamekw of Manawan
During the hearings, the establishment had realized they were wrong and that the two nurses never intended to intimidate Jocelyne Ottawa.
“A little song”
On March 12, 2021, Sylvie Bellemare offered to help her colleague Julie Duchemin who was preparing to heal the wound of Jocelyne Ottawa, an Atikamekw.
Twelve days earlier, Ms Bellemare, a CISSS worker for 21 years, had attended a training session on Aboriginal realities. In particular, she had learned the importance of understanding the basics of Aboriginal culture, history and language, and of embracing humor on outreach.
Since she wanted to put her knowledge into practice and the patient remained silent during the treatment, Ms. Bellemare cheerfully asked her to sing “a little song in the Atikamekw language”. The patient replied that she knew nothing. Laughing, the nurse added, “It’s so beautiful, the Atikamekw language. You must know Moonlight? The patient denied this.
The nurse then noticed her patient’s name on a sticker. “Oh, your first name is Jocelyne. That’s like Joyce in English, right? Is that what you are called in your community? ‘ she had started.
Jocelyne Ottawa had answered yes. “So it will be Joyce for the intimacy,” the nurse had replied, not thinking of Joyce Echaquan. The treatment ended almost an hour later.
snowball effect
At home, Jocelyne Ottawa reflected on the treatment she had received. She felt the nurses laughed at her and that she was subjected to “humiliating and intimidating” treatment.
She then wrote a Facebook status to tell the story. Its release sparked a reaction. Ghislain Picard, chair of the Quebec and Labrador First Nations Assembly, conveyed the status to The Canadian Press, which then contacted CISSS.
“The nurses concerned must be identified immediately and suspended for investigation and, if necessary, fired,” reacted the interim director general of the CISSS de Lanaudière, Caroline Barbir, in an internal email.
The two nurses were found and suspended. But the director’s instructions were clear: if Jocelyne Ottawa had actually been asked to sing a song and given the nickname Joyce, the two nurses would have to be fired.
After a brief interview with Marie-Michelle Breault, senior adviser on industrial relations at CISSS, where Ms Bellemare had given her version of the facts, the two nurses lost their employment. In her resignation letter it can be read that Sylvie Bellemare made “racist, discriminatory and inappropriate statements”. Julie Duchemin was fired for her “inaction”.
The “fall of the employer” lamented
After almost a year of hearings, the court made its decision on Thursday. Sylvie Bellemare’s dismissal is overturned. However, she was suspended for ten days without pay.
In its ruling, the court points out that the nurse should have been aware that being asked to sing “could destabilize a person, cause discomfort and create misunderstandings”. However, he specifies that “humanizing an approach to care can be a noble goal”.
The court ruled that CISSS interim Director General Caroline Barbir suspended the two women without pay “without having any corroborative information” and “without carrying out a minimal verification of what was reported by The Canadian Press”.
In addition, the court regrets that the two women were dismissed by the employer without regard to the context. “The employer’s haste prevented him from properly assessing the behavior of the caregivers, despite having 30 days to conduct his investigations,” the ruling reads, adding that it is “concerning that the course of care at the The heart of the matter has not been carefully examined”.
The court concluded by noting that Ms. Bellemare “does not have to shoulder the burden of a colonial legacy and burn at the stake alone”.
reinstatement of the employee
CISSS welcomes the arbitral tribunal’s decision, said CISSS Director of Institutional Affairs and Public Relations, Pascale Lamy. “Our team will carry out the enforcement of the arbitral award that provides for the reinstatement of the worker and ensure that this is done under the best possible conditions,” she told La Presse.
For his part, Stéphane Cormier, President of the Syndicat interprofessionnel de la santé de Lanaudière, stated that he could not comment at this time as a confidentiality agreement had been signed.
For her part, patient Jocelyne Ottawa, during the hearings, wished that the two nurses would find their jobs.
With the collaboration of Vincent Larin, La Presse