Integrity commissioner Mario Dion in Ottawa, December 13, 2011. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
January 30, 2014 - 7:28 AM
OTTAWA - Public Sector Integrity Commissioner Mario Dion says a senior official at the Parole Board of Canada behaved inappropriately towards female staff, disclosed information to unauthorized persons and put himself in a conflict of interest.
Dion says Frederick Tufnell, former vice-chairperson with board's Ontario/Nunavut region, put himself in a conflict when he requested a second review and a new decision on a file he had previously recused himself from for reasons of bias.
The investigation also found that Tufnell put his hands on the knees of female staff when speaking to them, touched their backs, arms and hair and made flirty and offensive jokes.
Tufnell was also found to have given back massages to female staff and to have let a women who worked with him rub his feet, which he later claimed was a form of palm reading.
He also criticized colleagues to people outside the organization and disclosed information to people who weren't authorized to receive it.
Tufnell is still a board member of the Parole Board, but his designation as a regional vice-chairperson was terminated last September.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014