ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Liberal leadership hopeful Kevin Falcon has fired a male member of his campaign staff following allegations of sexual harassment made and posted to social media by Diamond Isinger, an employee of a rival candidate.
Isinger, the campaign manager for Michael Lee, said she tried to settle the matter privately with Falcon and his team, but “with no apologies or consequences to date” made the decision to go public on Sunday, according to the statement she shared on Twitter.
In the statement, Isinger said an “unexpected” run-in with four workers of Falcon’s campaign on Oct. 29 ended with her in tears. She alleges in her statement that a male staff member made “sexually suggestive jokes” about her while the group was seated at a downtown Vancouver restaurant. Isinger said that when she piped up in her own defence, the aide became enraged and yelled profanities for more than 15 minutes. Isinger said this was witnessed by restaurant patrons and serving staff.
“He insisted I shake his hand to reconcile with him in between these outbursts. When I declined to do so, he berated me again. Others at the table let this continue for a long time while I burst into tears,” Isinger said in her statement.
When reached by Postmedia, Isinger declined further comment on the matter.
Vancouver police Sgt. Steve Addison said the department is aware of allegations surrounding Friday’s incident, although he said he could not disclose if a police report had been filed.
On Monday morning, in a statement posted to Twitter, Falcon said he had apologized to Isinger and spoke with the staff member in question. “Based on the conversation, there was sufficient acknowledgement of Diamond’s account, and I have ended the relationship between him and my campaign team.”
In the statement, Falcon said he asked campaign co-chair Puneet Sandhar to hire legal counsel to launch an external investigation into the incident, which he labelled “reprehensible” and “wrong.”
“I am truly disturbed and disappointed by the actions involved. … I hope to receive full cooperation from everyone involved in order to act on the subsequent recommendations,” said Falcon.
Neither Falcon nor Isinger identified the restaurant where the incident took place.
Support from other politicians, including former premier Christy Clark, has poured in for Isinger over social media.
“By speaking out, you are helping to make change,” Clark commented on Twitter. “I know many of us are utterly disgusted by what you describe, but also heartened by your decision to make it public. We know it could just as easily have been any of us.”
Leadership candidates Renee Merrifield, Val Litwin and Gavin Dew also shared their comments online.
“I am so proud of Diamond for standing up. In doing so, she stands up against all misogyny, chauvinism and discrimination. Silence is complicity. I will not be silent or a keeper of the secrets,” Merrifield tweeted in response to Isinger’s statement.
The ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ Liberal party will choose its new leader Feb. 5.
