(KAREN EDWARDS / iNFOnews.ca)

BC prison guard Dallis Van Steinburg was taking part in a mock exercise with some colleagues in 2019 as part of her training to get on the emergency response team.

A colleague lay facedown on the ground with her hands under her chest and Van Steinburg and others in the group had to cuff her.

As Van Steinburg pinned her colleague's arms down and braced herself on the floor, the colleague bit her hand.

Van Steinburg claims she sustained injuries including nerve damage to her hand, PTSD, adjustment disorder with anxiety, and major depressive disorder.

The details are laid out in an April 30 BC Human Rights Tribunal decision which Van Steinburg launched against the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, Corrections Branch.

Van Steinburg claims the Ministry failed to accommodate her disabilities after she was bitten and created an unsafe work environment for her continued employment, calling it a "toxic work environment."

"She says she was discriminated and harassed by management and coworkers, and passed over for training and promotion," the decision read.

There is no final ruling from the Tribunal, but the Ministry applied to throw the case out because it had been filed late. 

The decision said Van Steinburg became a correctional officer in 2008 and began working at the Alouette Correctional Centre in Maple Ridge in 2012.

After she was bitten she was off work for a week and when she returned her acting deputy warden, referred to as SG in the decision, was angry with her for taking the time off and told her, "Stop being a pussy. People get hurt all the time."

The decision said she filed a WorkSafeBC claim and a grievance against her employer with her union.

"She said her supervisors and management treated her negatively after she filed the grievance," the decision read.

Van Steinburg claims she was treated with disdain by management who she says weren't supportive after she was bitten.

"Ms. Van Steinburg says she was not allowed to call the bite an assault... (and) the deputy warden 'taunted' Ms. Van Steinburg by telling her she could go to the police if she wanted to," the decision said.

She asked management to interview two colleagues who witnessed the bite, but they never did, and the colleagues were turned away when they tried to report it.

She then went on medical leave which lasted almost a year. She received physiotherapy for the nerve damage to her hand and psychological treatment for PTSD.

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In May 2020, she began a gradual return to work and was back full-time a month later.

She claimed she was "treated coldly" and heard remarks suggesting she was making too big a deal about the assault, the decision said.

Soon after returning to work, she reported a male prison guard who had broken protocol, but later heard management call her a "tattle-tale who "had issues with men."

Van Steinburg claims she was denied training and promotion after she reported the male Correctional Supervisor’s misconduct.

The decision said Van Steinburg told management she had become increasingly uncomfortable around one of her colleagues who had been "saying things about her" and she "felt panic by simply discussing her."

Management said she was exacerbating the situation by putting herself in a position where staff vent to her which was causing her to feel burnt out. She disagreed.

A meeting was held with a mediator to try and sort out the issues between Van Steinburg and KH, the colleague who bit her.

The meeting left her "emotionally frayed" and she called in sick the next day.

A month later her doctor wrote, "She cannot be in the same room as the person who bit her because of PTSD, panic attacks, anxiety, and depression."

However, a meeting with the Ministry’s occupational health nurse didn't go well for her. The nurse denied her short-term benefits saying they could not find she had a medical issue.

Management said that because the doctor limited her from working with KH, she’d have to remain off work without pay.

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She appealed and her benefits were temporarily approved.

The Union said it didn't deal with member-to-member grievances and told her to file a Human Rights Tribunal complaint.

The Ministry asked her for information to accommodate her and then suggested she work nights and weekends, but she said no.

The decision said she refused mediation but accepted a transfer to a new facility which was a significant commute.

However, the day before she was due to go back to work, management called and said her return-to-work plan needed to be reviewed which could take a long time.

A month later she resigned.

The Ministry applied to dismiss the complaint saying that Van Steinburg had filed it after the year-long cut-off date.

Much of the decision focused on the legalities of whether the discrimination was a "continuing contravention" and the Tribunal dismissed much of the complaint due to it being late.

However, the Tribunal did allow part of the complaint against the Ministry to proceed, and Van Steinburg's claim that it failed in its duty to accommodate her disability will continue ticking through the system.

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