A former government of Alberta employee says she was bullied and harassed at her job inside the department of energy for months, and when she complained, she was sent home on administrative leave.

With 20 years of experience working in the electricity industry, Maya Knauth was confident she would be an asset to the Alberta government when she was hired to help move the province to a capacity market. But shortly after she started, things didn’t seem right.

“They were doing little things, like setting me up, denying conversations,” Knauth told Global News about the team she worked with.

“It was toxic culture.”

Knauth says the bullying and harassment escalated, and when she complained, she was moved to a different unit where her days were filled with writing fake briefing notes, with not clear direction and constantly changing expectation.

“It’s a way for them to torment staff. They make you rewrite it, rewrite it, rewrite it all the time,” she said of the task.

“The just make you feel so guilty, because they can’t even tell you what they want. They never tell you what they want.”

After months of this, she filed a formal complaint. Knauth says she didn’t get a fair investigation, which found no wrongdoing, and she’s been told the way to return to work in a different department is to have a doctor sign an accommodation request.

“They removed me and they said if you want to come back, declare yourself a medical problem,” she said.

“My life is destroyed because of the government.”

Three other current or former employees from different government of Alberta departments, who don’t want to be identified, shared similar stories with Global News.

One said after receiving a heavily coveted position, he was forced by other managers to lead meetings in buildings he didn’t have access to, and he wasn’t given proper access to the needed materials. When the meetings went poorly, he would then be subjected to criticism in front of his peers, and even name calling, he said.

Another described being moved into a position she wasn’t prepared for. When she struggled with her new responsibilities, instead of being properly trained, she said she was routinely criticized, and eventually forced into an early retirement.

“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Guy Smith, the president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

“Work loads have increased stress on the front lines, and I suppose managers respond to that through intimidation tactics, and it’s unfortunate.”

Smith doesn’t believe bullying and harassment are widespread issues inside the government, but he does say there are troubling pockets. Between Jan. 25, 2018 and Jan. 25, 2019, 61 formal grievances were filed.

“We negotiated stronger language into our collective agreement, which just got completed last fall, to make sure our members were protected if they feel they’re experiencing culture like that,” Smith added.

The government declined interviews to answer questions about the concerns raised to Global News, instead issuing a statement.

“There is a clear process for employees to raise concerns or file complaints about bullying, harassment, discrimination and violence without fear of retribution or intimidation,” the statement from Wilson Smith, the communication manager with the Public Service Commission, wrote.

Training sessions under the government’s respectful workplace policy have been offered to Alberta’s 27,000 public service employees. As of March 31, 2018, 19,614 have completed e-training, 4,765 have done a half-day in-person workshop and 1,497 supervisors have completed a half-day in-person supervisor’s workshop.

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