Former pilot asks to be reinstated after quitting over alleged gender dispute

[Guest]

Former pilot asks to be reinstated after quitting over alleged gender dispute

Jane Clegg fought back tears as she testified today in Ottawa at a human rights tribunal

The Canadian Press · Posted: Apr 23, 2018 3:24 PM ET | Last Updated: 33 minutes ago

 

Former Air Canada pilot Jane Clegg, seen here in 2012, claims she was forced to quit the airline by its mishandling of sexism she encountered on the job. (Jane Clegg)

A former pilot who left Air Canada alleging she was discriminated against on the basis of her gender has asked the Canadian Human Rights Commission to order that she be reinstated.

Jane Clegg fought back tears as she testified today in Ottawa at a human rights tribunal into her complaint against the airline.

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  Female pilot says she was forced out of job after Air Canada mishandled sexism

She described an incident in 2009 when she was working as a second officer that started a spiral of events, eventually leading to quitting the airline in April 2013.

Clegg told the tribunal that Air Canada needs to improve its gender harassment policy.

But the carrier says Clegg never linked the issues she was having with one of its male captains to gender bias until the airline found out about a scheduling conflict between the two nearly three years later.

A lawyer for the airline also told the hearing that Clegg wouldn't co-operate when Air Canada did launch an investigation, and that quitting her job over the issue was a disproportionate response.

The hearing is expected to last several weeks.

[DEFCON]

Right, or wrong doesn't seem to matter,  I'll bet this fiasco costs AC millions before it's over.

  

[Fido]

What Air Canada aircraft had a 'second' officer?

[Kip Powick]

DC 10...brought over by CP ??

[Seeker]

Let's just say there are a few errors in the reporting.

Of note - this is the same reporter who did the whole series on "porn in the flight deck" a couple of years ago.  There were a few errors in those too.

[Vsplat]

Errors yes, but for all that the press just mauls the facts in their effort to print something, there is often an ugly truth that is getting exposed.

Those who know Jane might agree,  she puts her heart into it and perhaps felt the rough stuff more than others might.  But she is also a good driver and no dummy. 

I'm thinking there is going to be a lot of emotion during what lies ahead, but also we are going to learn a few things, whether or not she wins.  Because of her efforts, someone's career down the road will, in fact, go better.

Vs

[acsidestick]

AC just released a statement, that the pilot in question never made any complaint or filed for anything requiring a manager to investigate.  She just resigned, telling others she was tired of the business.

Severely weakens her case over the what the poorly investigated reporting purported.  

 

 

[Kip Powick]

Jane Clegg had been a military and commercial airline pilot in Canada for three decades. But she tears up talking about her last day on the job as a first officer at the controls of an Air Canada plane on April 3, 2013.

Instead of the traditions reserved for retiring pilots she always assumed she'd experience, including the right to keep her uniform, she was asked to give hers back. She said goodbye to her passengers and walked over to the company's flight operations control centre in Ottawa.

"Nobody was there to say thank you. No one was there to shake my hand," she said. "I simply went in with a garbage bag with my uniform in it and placed it on the desk and walked away."

They didn't have training, they didn't have sensitivity.— Former Air Canada pilot Jane Clegg

That's because rather than retire, Clegg was resigning — a decision the woman who, in the 1990s was part of the military's VIP squadron, flying the prime minister and members of the Royal Family, claims she was forced into by Air Canada's mishandling of sexism she encountered on the job.

"I don't think Air Canada is unsafe," she said, but, "I don't think they truly appreciate the impact that misogyny has on their female pilots.

"It is definitely devastating to have had to end my career in the manner that I did." 

Affecting safety

She filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and on Monday morning in Ottawa, a tribunal will begin hearing Clegg's accusation that she only quit because Air Canada reacted poorly to a situation she believed was affecting safety.

"The difficulty in having the situation addressed had more to do with the fact that they just didn't understand, they didn't have training, they didn't have sensitivity," Clegg said. 

Clegg points to the day she and a male pilot got into an angry exchange before a flight, because she insisted they needed more fuel. She believes his reaction was actually a response to having to share the controls with a woman. He had more seniority. She was taken off the flight crew and assigned to another route that day.

ut of more than 3,500 pilots employed at Air Canada about six per cent, or 210, are women. The airline says that's better than the industry average.

"There are probably still men who work for the airline and have never flown with a female," she said. 

 

Clegg, seen here in 1990, flew for the airline and the military for three decades — and was part of the latter's VIP squadron, flying the prime minister and members of the Royal Family. (Jane Clegg)

Clegg didn't file a formal complaint of gender harassment because, she says, she thought the airline could simply agree not to schedule her and the male pilot together. Air Canada says that since no harassment complaint was filed, it didn't address the complaint in the context of the airline's zero-tolerance policy on sexual harassment.

Instead, the airline considered the issue a personality conflict and suggested Clegg use the company's "book-around" system to manage the situation.   

It meant the onus was on her to switch her flights, sometimes to lesser routes, for less pay.

 

She says she's not the only female pilot put in that position.

Harassment vs. personality conflict

 'I failed to help them understand that there's a difference between not liking somebody and somebody who is intentionally diminishing your professional standing'— Jane Clegg

"I know there are female pilots at Air Canada who are altering their own personal work schedules to avoid having to share the small confines of an aircraft flight deck with somebody who's treating them inappropriately," Clegg said.

Air Canada said in a statement it has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and wouldn't have suggested she work around the male pilot if it had known she considered the conflict to be about gender. 

"I think they see misogyny and harassment more through the lens of personality," Clegg said.

In her view, the airline equated the situation to "two guys who just don't get along."

"And I failed to help them understand that there's a difference between not liking somebody and somebody who is intentionally diminishing your professional standing — simply because of your gender," she said.

 

Claiming the the situation became untenable, affecting decisions on safety, Clegg quit.

She will argue before a public tribunal that the airline needs to improve its policies on gender harassment and that she should be reinstated. 

"As somebody who's been in the aviation industry for a very, very long time there were women that came before me that paved the way for my career to be what it was. And, I very much want my legacy to be that my career paved the way for younger generations of women to be able to enjoy a better work experience than than I do," Clegg said.

The hearings are expected to take place in Ottawa over several weeks.

 

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Anyone know why AC will not reinstate her??? She did not retire, she resigned....

When she left the Military, (resigned), after a very short time, there was no "atta-boy" thanks or party either....there never is for those that have min time in and go looking for greener pastures...especially after a very short Mil Career."

Not sure about that statement about bidding around people she did not want to fly with and therefore loosing money. I know a buddy who 99'ed 17 pilots but still got his hours in and received full pay......why would she get less pay...she would still have to fly her hours...... or is that the reporters spin on this.???

Extremely poor reporting with a sprinkling of convoluted facts.

Why has this come up now....five years after resigning ?? 

I certainly don't have much faith in the Press spin on this entire issue as much of the information not entirely factual.

[Bobcaygeon]

If it's all about one coworker then this seems kind of weak. 

We've all worked with "that guy" and I've also stood up to "that guy" when it came to fuel, etc or because he treated the FA like crap, in an environment that was far less friendly than Air Canada when it comes to "speaking up".

I wish I could have had the option to 99 someone. Most places don't have that option. People shift trade or book off instead. As a reserve pilot it doesn't take too long to figure out why you are always flying with the same guys. 

In a normal office workspace I have to work with dislikable people daily and for years. It was a big adjustment from the flight line where I came and went and rarely flew with the same people.

PS If you think your getting the golden handshake when you resign from a place where you are a number like AC Flight Ops then your dreaming.

[Fido]

3 hours ago, Kip Powick said:

I certainly don't have much faith in the Press spin on this entire issue as much of the information not entirely factual.

Does that not make you question ALL reporting from 'respected' journalists?

[j.k.]

I heard there may be a pattern of consistently wanting more fuel involved in a circumstances like this. Specifically, showing up early and calling dispatch for more gas before your colleague arrives.

Or is it anytime a woman disagrees and is shutdown by a male coworker that ranks and is senior to them it's misogyny and harassment?

 

[Vsplat]

5 hours ago, j.k. said:

I heard there may be a pattern of consistently wanting more fuel involved in a circumstances like this. Specifically, showing up early and calling dispatch for more gas before your colleague arrives.

Or is it anytime a woman disagrees and is shutdown by a male coworker that ranks and is senior to them it's misogyny and harassment?

 

Well, I heard that it is common in these cases for the complainant to be isolated and discredited with rumours and innuendo.

The facts will be weighed as part of the process.   I have a very strong feeling that this is a 'where there is smoke' case.  It may help to keep in mind that an individual on the receiving end of toxicity in the workplace, whether or not it is discriminatory in nature, may over react to something minor at the point they have had enough.  Those around tend to think there is no validity in the complaint because they only see the last straw.

As a suggestions, let's give everyone a chance to be heard, and not spread rumours about a person.

Vs

[j.k.]

10 hours ago, Vsplat said:

The facts will be weighed as part of the process.   I have a very strong feeling that this is a 'where there is smoke' case.  

The facts will be weighed, but I stand by my opinion:

Losing a disagreement with your superior, over something he/she holds ultimate responsibility for is not sexism. The practise of FOs bidding around Captain schedules, rather than displacing them full pay for trips that cross is not misogyny... 

Not to mention to never file an actual complaint alleging any of this until 5 years after you walk away?

Then get bent out of shape because after you quit they wanted their uniform back and weren't waiting at the gate with a cake?

As for complaints of being forced to accept lower pay? Last I checked there are lots of ways to fly a month and everyone gets +1/-5 give or take. Not to mention the are a lot of fleets and seats at this airline, plenty of places to go... 

I don't doubt there are some jerks, that's life... but in my opinion, after reading the articles and hearing the so-called rumours, the behaviour and accusations in this case by the complainant are way off base.

As you say, where there's smoke..  and it seems pretty clear to me where the fire is...

[Zan Vetter]

I’ve heard that once a captain has 7 other pilots bidding around them it’s time for tea and cookies with the chief. Or if that’s not true, it should be. As they say where there’s smoke...

[Homerun]

12 hours ago, Zan Vetter said:

I’ve heard that once a captain has 7 other pilots bidding around them it’s time for tea and cookies with the chief. Or if that’s not true, it should be. As they say where there’s smoke...

...and in most cases a long sleeved shirt!

[blues deville]

13 hours ago, Zan Vetter said:

I’ve heard that once a captain has 7 other pilots bidding around them it’s time for tea and cookies with the chief. Or if that’s not true, it should be. As they say where there’s smoke...

I wonder why it takes seven pilots to activate the master caution? After the first event and if they still can’t play well with others in this business it’s perhaps time to find other work. 

[Kip Powick]

 

1 minute ago, blues deville said:

I wonder why it takes seven pilots to activate the master caution? After the first event and if they still can’t play well with others in this business it’s perhaps time to find other work. 

I think the "Master Caution" was activated more often after the CP/AC marriage. I am assuming a lot of that acrimony has since washed under the bridge..

[blues deville]

5 minutes ago, Kip Powick said:

 

I think the "Master Caution" was activated more often after the CP/AC marriage. I am assuming a lot of that acrimony has since washed under the bridge..

The fallout from merging seniority lists can be a problem but Zan Vetter’s post sounds like this is a more recent occurrence. 

[Zan Vetter]

Well, one pilot bidding around you, or a couple, is maybe just a preference? Every Captain probably has a couple, that’s just life. We’re not all perfect. I used to bid around a few people that are otherwise fine pilots because they tended to complain all day. 7 or more maybe indicates you have some kind of more significant issue that is causing people to not want to work with you. I don’t know about the actual number I’ve just heard it exists and might be around 7. 

[AIP]

18 hours ago, Zan Vetter said:

I’ve heard that once a captain has 7 other pilots bidding around them it’s time for tea and cookies with the chief. Or if that’s not true, it should be. As they say where there’s smoke...

100% inaccurate post here.  Not sure where you got your info from but it is wrong.

[Seeker]

These sorts of topics are interesting - almost a litmus test. How someone responds is an insight into their personal belief system.  Reactions vary, even in this thread, from "where there's smoke, there's fire" to discounting the issue as insignificant or being faked for personal gain.  

The male Capt may have been gruff or dismissive but who knows where he was coming from - maybe the last 3 FOs he worked with were overly conservative about fuel and this was simply the straw that broke the camel's back or maybe he really was a sexist jerk who needs to be tuned up.  The female FO may have taken a simple comment out of context, ineffectually communicated her complaint and resigned rashly or really was being discriminated against and treated unfairly by the company.  The truth is probably somewhere in the middle - some combination of "jerk Capt" and overly sensitive/poorly communicated complaint against "jerk Capt."

I have my own feelings which are irrelevant to the discussion because I know nothing about either of them or the situation but one point I will make is that the timeframe for this overlays the timeframe for the company being raked through the public scrutiny of "porn in the flight deck" - seems unlikely to me that the company would have dismissed such a complaint in that environment.  Of course this is exactly what they could have done - maybe busy or distracted with the other situation.

[Zan Vetter]

2 hours ago, AIP said:

100% inaccurate post here.  Not sure where you got your info from but it is wrong.

Ok well there you have it! My mistake, AIP. 

[DEFCON]

There used to be a Captain & First Officer. Both had clearly defined roles that had been refined over many decades, even centuries if you consider naval tradition.

Today we have pnf's, pf's, partners and all sorts of other arrangements that would seem to confuse and blur the lines of responsibility. THE AC Halifax accident report is a case in point; other than the crew description, the title Captain, or FO was never used again; the crew was described in new age terms and their roles seemed rather poorly defined. 

In my day as an FO I would never have ordered extra fuel without consulting with the Captain in advance, nor would have I accepted an FO that made decisions like this on their own; exceptions do apply.

Is there no discussion between flight crew members from a flight planning perspective before you go to the gate anymore?