Rudy Sager.

Image Credit: FACEBOOK: Rudy Sager

The owner of a Kootenay landscape company who pushed his genitals into the back of an employee and left sex toys on her desk has been ordered to pay $15,000 in compensation.

A Sept. 7 B.C. Human Rights Tribunal decision found that former employee Harmony Billow put up with a barrage of sexist abuse from Creston-based Hardy Yardcare and its owner Rudy Sager.

The decision says Billow would often work from the company's office in Sager's home early in the morning.

"Mr. Sager would often come into the office at that time in his robe or his underwear, which made her uncomfortable," the decision says.

In the decision, Billow says that Sager would make comments to her about her body and remarked on her "getting skinny," and talk about her waistline, breasts and "ass." He would also call her "stupid" and "dumb."

"Ms. Billow said that sometimes, Mr. Sager would come up behind her when she was in the office sitting at the desk and would stand so close to her that his genitals would press up against her," the decision reads.

On one occasion Billow turned up to work and found sex toys on her desk.

"She became increasingly uncomfortable about going into work and being alone in the office located in Mr. Sager’s house," the decision says. "She did not want to lose her job but was worried about what comments she would endure or whether she’d have to deal with uncomfortable physical contact."

On top of this, Sager would make demeaning comments about Billow being "a girl."

In the decision, Billow said Sager would also make life more difficult for her.

When she was going out to a job site, Sager wouldn't give her a truck with a trailer, meaning she would have to hoist a lawnmower onto the back of the truck which was more difficult than loading it on a trailer.

"She had to fight to get access to a weedwhacker to take with her to her jobs as her male colleagues had priority access," the decision reads.

She was also required to do what her colleagues referred to as "bitch work" and make sure they had enough electrolyte drinks and groceries, as well as cleaning and filling the trucks with gas.

"Mr. Sager even had her do his personal grocery shopping," the decision reads.

She also put in 12 hours days, finishing at 6 p.m. while her male colleagues went home at 3 p.m.

The decision says Billow is married with children and found it difficult to deal with her family after 12 hours at work.

"I just bit my tongue and took the fight. He would throw these text messages to me and I would just crumble because I have kids and I needed to have the job. That’s what women have to do when they work with men, they just have to suck it up and do it because it’s a man’s world and they don’t understand that yeah we have different parts but we can still do the same things that they can," Billow said in the decision.

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In July 2020 Billow woke up and was sick. She texted Sager saying she couldn't come in and went to the hospital.

The decision says Sager gave her a "hard time" about it, and Billow's husband then texted Sager.

"She takes 1 day off when she’s sick. After you can’t even get your ass out of bed all day. If you keep trying to guilt her anymore we will be having a chat. You know you're being an ass and so do I," the text read.

Sager accused the husband of threatening him and then fired Billow.

Billow then filed the Human Rights Tribunal complaint saying she'd been fired due to her gender, mental disability, and her marital status.

The decision says Sager did not respond after he was personally served the legal documents and did not take part in the hearing.

However when reached by phone by iNFOnews.ca, Sager denied the allegations and said he'd done nothing wrong.

"It's a joke that's why I haven't responded to it, an absolute joke," he said.

"I ran a business out of my house, my office is outside of my bedroom and there's no way I was doing anything sexual," Sager said. "Never did I ever make any advances towards her... she's trying to make me look really bad, I'm a nice guy, I'm a good boss."

The decision says Billow had had a stroke when she was a child and had some issues reading.

"Mr. Sager would regularly call Ms. Billow 'stupid, dumb,' and say things such as, 'you belong in a home,'" the Tribunal ruled.

The Tribunal ruled that Hardy Yardcare and Sager had discriminated against Billow on the basis of a mental disability.

When it came to the allegations of sexual harassment the Tribunal said it had "no difficulty" finding Sager's behaviour discriminatory.

The Tribunal ruled Sager's firing of Bellow wasn't discrimination because of her marital status but did say that the issue could be addressed by B.C.'s Employment Standards Tribunal.

Ultimately, the Tribunal ruled Hardy Yardcare and Sager had discriminated against Billow and breached the B.C. Human Rights Code and ordered it to pay her $15,000 in compensation.

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