Co-workers dispute claims of harassment, bullying at New Brunswick Power
An arbitrator has ordered New Brunswick Power to reinstate a 27‑year employee it fired after a co‑worker accused her of harassment, bullying and a hair‑pulling incident in an office corridor.
Arbitrator Michel Doucet, in a decision dated November 26, 2025, found the utility had grounds for discipline but not for dismissal, cutting the penalty to a one‑week suspension and granting back pay for nearly a year off the job.
“I can only conclude that the employer has not established, on a balance of probabilities, that this incident occurred as explained by EP.”
The case turned on a complaint from “EP,” a health and safety colleague who alleged that, in the fall of 2023, the grievor grabbed her hair in a hallway, pushed her forward and said, “I’ve got a bitch by the weave.”
She also pointed to negative body language, belittling remarks and what she saw as attempts to isolate her and undermine her work.
The grievor, a peer in the same department, denied the assault and said the phrase came from a story she once told at work about her daughter joking with her at home. She acknowledged touching EP’s hair “in a friendly way” at some point and admitted using a vulgar term about another co‑worker in a different context.
No eyewitnesses were called to support the corridor incident, and EP’s description at the hearing did not fully line up with what she told the external...
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