WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone affected by it.
Five women are suing a prominent Edmonton home construction company for a combined $6.2 million, alleging a company partner’s sexual misconduct created a “poisoned” work environment where employees were subjected to harassment and complaints about workplace safety were ignored.
The claims allege that Coventry Homes failed to investigate allegations of sexual misconduct against sales director Robin Nasserdeen, even after he was charged by Edmonton police for sexually assaulting an employee — and that others who expressed concern about his conduct were pushed out of the company.
Each claim alleges that Coventry Homes fostered an unsafe work environment where employees were exposed to “harassment, sexual harassment, unwanted sexual solicitation, bullying, and discriminatory conduct.”
Nasserdeen denies the allegations in the civil suits and the allegation of sexual assault he faces in criminal court. A lawyer for Coventry Homes declined to comment.
Two of the women who seek damages allege they were sexually abused by Nasserdeen. They name him individually in their claims and allege the company’s negligence allowed for his misconduct.
The other three plaintiffs allege they were pushed out of their jobs for raising concerns about Nasserdeen’s behaviour and how the company was handling the allegations against him.
“Nasserdeen was an unfit executive but was provided with significant power and independence to oversee his female subordinates,” read the statements of claim from the two alleged victims of sexual abuse.
Nasserdeen, 42, is a primary shareholder in Coventry Homes, which has built hundreds of homes across the greater Edmonton area since it was established in 1976.
The company, one of the largest new home builders in the city, is involved in charitable partnerships and sponsorships, including with the Edmonton Oilers. Nasserdeen often serves as the face of the company, appearing in advertisements and interviews.
Companies need to realize, regardless of of the seniority of their employees, everybody has to follow the rules.-Matthew Fisher, labour lawyer
Matthew Fisher, a Toronto lawyer who specializes in employment law, says the allegations against Nasserdeen and Coventry Homes are egregious and, if proven, could be precedent-setting for workplace misconduct cases across Canada.
“The allegations that are made here suggest an organization that had some very, very serious problems from the top,” he said. “Companies need to realize, regardless of of the seniority of their employees, everybody has to follow the rules.”
Nasserdeen’s criminal trial could clear the way for a civil finding of liability, Fisher said.
“If the criminal trial finds guilt, I think there would be very little difficulty in showing that this workplace environment is not one that anyone should expect to endure,” he said.
“It very well could set a watermark for damages.”
None of the allegations, civil or criminal, have been proven in court. No statements of defence have been filed in the civil suits but are expected to be provided to the court by June 16.
Nasserdeen was charged by Edmonton police in April 2022 with one count of sexual assault. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial, with jury selection set to begin next February.
The charge was laid more than a year after former employee Jessica McNabb reported to police that she had been sexually assaulted.
McNabb, who worked as an area sales manager and reported to Nasserdeen, alleges that she was raped in a parking lot on the outskirts of Edmonton in March 2021 after he asked her to a work meeting.
McNabb, 32, alleges the work dinner began with Nasserdeen offering her shots of tequila. She tried to decline but Nasserdeen continued to order drinks and ask explicit questions, her statement of claim says.
My life has been forever changed.– Jessica McNabb
She alleges that one of her drinks was spiked and that Nasserdeen put her in the passenger seat of his vehicle before driving to a parking lot. She was groped, then assaulted repeatedly, the statement of claim says, adding that she lost consciousness more than once.
McNabb said the assault, and the way it was handled by her former employer, has left her traumatized — struggling with PTSD, anxiety and severe depression.
“My life has been forever changed,” McNabb told CBC. “I didn’t even want to live. I was a shell of a human being.”
McNabb reported the assault to police about two weeks later. She completed a rape kit at an Edmonton hospital where she was instructed to take medical leave.
She never returned to work.
“[McNabb] had no choice but to treat her employment as having been constructively terminated,” reads her statement of claim.
“Coventry Homes failed in its most basic obligation to ensure a safe workplace … and, in so doing, terminated the employment relationship.”
Five former Coventry Homes employees are suing the company, alleging the Edmonton home builder exposed its employees to a poisoned workplace. From left to right, Anne Guenther, Tessa Thomson, Jessica McNabb, Kaitlyn Ross and Caitlin Garrioch. (Wallis Snowdon/CBC)
McNabb’s lawsuit, filed on March 15 of this year, is the first of five separate statements of claim filed in Edmonton Court of King’s Bench. The claims seek damages including wrongful dismissal, unsafe working conditions and mental suffering. The four other suits were filed on May 10.
While publication bans are customary in sexual assault cases, there is no court-ordered ban on the publication of McNabb’s name.
All five women, represented by the same lawyer, shared their stories with CBC.
Three allege they were constructively terminated. The term describes a situation in which the employer has failed to obey the employment contract in a significant way, forcing the employee to quit.
Two others allege wrongful termination — that their dismissals were in reprisal for voicing concerns about Nasserdeen and the company’s response.
McNabb said she and her former colleagues are hopeful their claims send a message about the importance of maintaining safe workplaces and investigating complaints of misconduct.
They want to hold Coventry Homes accountable, she said.
“We’re doing this to set precedents for them and other companies. They can’t turn a blind eye to this ugliness.”
McNabb said she feared no one would believe her. She hopes her refusal to stay silent will help survivors find their voices.
“This isn’t about the money,”‘ she said. “I want to be a light for others.”
Nasserdeen denies allegations
In a statement to CBC, Nasserdeen maintained his innocence.
“The claims of assault and harassment against me are false and the truth will come out,” he wrote in the statement. “I am eager to clear my name before the public at the appropriate time in a court of law.”
According to the statements of claim, after his arrest in April 2022, Nasserdeen sent an email to all Coventry Homes staff, explaining he was temporarily stepping away from his role to handle his legal issues.
“I have been as shocked as anyone by allegations that have been made against me,” Nasserdeen wrote, according to the claims.
“Unfortunately, rumours have also begun spreading at work and are disrupting our otherwise exemplary workplace.”
He returned to the workplace five months later.
The statements of claim say that on April 11, 2022, Coventry Homes CEO Henri Rodier sent a company-wide message to employees, describing an “allegation of misconduct” that had been made against Nasserdeen.
“We know Robin well, I know Robin well, given the interactions with both women and men at our company for the last 10 years,” Rodier wrote.
“For this reason, along with various factors, we have reason to take pause about her allegations.”
WATCH | Former employees talk about their experiences:
Five women sue Edmonton home building company
4 hours ago
Duration 2:18
Five women have filed statements of claim against an Edmonton home builder, seeking a combined $6.2 million in damages. The suits centre on the alleged misconduct of Robin Nasserdeen, a partner at Coventry Homes. Nasserdeen denies the civil allegations and a criminal charge of sexual assault.
In June 2022, Edmonton police detectives provided a warning to company management that Nasserdeen had been charged with sexual assault.
“Despite assuring the Edmonton police that Nasserdeen would not be returned to the workplace until the conclusion of his criminal trial in February 2024, Coventry Homes returned Nasserdeen to the workplace on Sept. 12, 2022,” reads McNabb’s statement of claim.
In a statement to CBC, the Edmonton Police Service confirmed that Coventry Homes management was issued a warning about Nasserdeen in June 2022.
Alleged sexual coercion
One of the statements of claim was filed by Caitlin Garrioch, who says that after years of being harassed by Nasserdeen at work, she was coerced into having sex with him under threat of termination.
Garrioch, 38, said learning of the criminal allegation against Nasserdeen sent her spiralling.
Everything she had endured came into focus, she said in an interview.
She had worked for Coventry Homes for nearly a decade, reporting directly to Nasserdeen. She was “relentlessly targeted and harassed,” according to her statement of claim.
“I suffered for years, years,” Garrioch told CBC. “The type of control that he had over me, it’s unexplainable.”
The Coventry Homes logo on a company pickup. The company builds homes in communities across the Edmonton region. (David Bajer/CBC)
Garrioch alleges the abuse began in the spring of 2016 after one of her clients made sexually suggestive comments to her. According to her statement of claim, she reported the remarks to Nasserdeen and he reacted by repeatedly telling her she had invited the comments upon herself.
Garrioch’s statement of claim alleges that Nasserdeen spoke often to Garrioch of his sexual exploits with Coventry Homes staff and made degrading comments about female employees.
It further alleges that Nasserdeen sent Garrioch a pornographic video and an image of his penis, pressured her to visit a sex shop during her work day, encouraged her to cheat on her husband and coerced her into sharing nude images of herself.
In the summer of 2018, over a work meeting at a café in west Edmonton, Nasserdeen threatened to terminate Garrioch if she refused to have sex with him, she alleges.
“Nasserdeen then threatened her with spreading sexual rumours about her,” her statement of claim says. “As a result of these clear threats … she felt compelled to comply with Nasserdeen’s demands.”
According to her statement of claim, Nasserdeen threatened Garrioch so she would delete evidence of the abuse and keep quiet.
In September 2022, Garrioch — then on medical leave — reported the abuse to a member of the executive management team at Coventry Homes, she said in her statement of claim.
Around Oct. 14, 2022, Garrioch again reported Nasserdeen, this time to an office manager, she alleges. She said she told the manager she was afraid to return to the office with Nasserdeen there, but alleges nothing was done.
“Instead of taking some responsibility for their actions, and the role that they play in women feeling safe at their company, they decide to ignore it,” she said in an interview.
“That is just absolutely unacceptable. And that’s why I think we’re all here.”
Garrioch alleges that due to the company’s failure to investigate, she was constructively terminated in November 2022. Her claim details how the abuse left her with emotional and psychological trauma, including anxiety and depression.
The other three women who have filed claims against Coventry Homes are Tessa Thomson, Anne Guenther and Kaitlyn Ross.
Thomson, 30, worked as a drafter for 18 months before she was placed on unpaid suspension in December 2022. She alleges she was constructively dismissed after being ridiculed and reprimanded for raising concerns about Nasserdeen’s conduct.
She said she wanted transparency from the company.
“I had a right to know who I was working for,” Thomson said. “I had a right to decide for myself whether I wanted to continue contributing to the success of a company that condones behaviour like this.”
Guenther, 37, worked as an estimator for more than a decade. She alleges she was terminated without cause in October 2022, 19 days after telling management she was scared of Nasserdeen.
Ross, 32, was an area sales manager for nearly three years. She alleges she was fired after raising concerns about Nasserdeen’s return to the office and criticizing the company’s “unwavering support” for him.
She alleges the company breached its own policies and endangered employees.
“The responsible thing to do would be to launch an investigation and they never did,” Ross said in an interview.
“Any woman who spoke out about how they felt with Robin Nasserdeen … they pushed them out. And the others were terminated, like myself.”
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually assaulted. You can access crisis lines and local support services through this Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
“Communication is one of the most important skills you require for a successful life.” — Catherine Pulsifer, author.
I’m one hundred percent in agreement with Pulsifer, which is why my evaluation of candidates begins with their writing skills. If a candidate’s writing skills and verbal communication skills, which I’ll assess when interviewing, aren’t well above average, I’ll pass on them regardless of their skills and experience.
Why?
Because business is fundamentally about getting other people to do things—getting employees to be productive, getting customers to buy your products or services, and getting vendors to agree to a counteroffer price. In business, as in life in general, you can’t make anything happen without effective communication; this is especially true when job searching when your writing is often an employer’s first impression of you.
Think of all the writing you engage in during a job search (resumes, cover letters, emails, texts) and all your other writing (LinkedIn profile, as well as posts and comments, blogs, articles, tweets, etc.) employers will read when they Google you to determine if you’re interview-worthy.
With so much of our communication today taking place via writing (email, text, collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Slack, ClickUp, WhatsApp and Rocket.Chat), the importance of proficient writing skills can’t be overstated.
When assessing a candidate’s writing skills, you probably think I’m looking for grammar and spelling errors. Although error-free writing is important—it shows professionalism and attention to detail—it’s not the primary reason I look at a candidate’s writing skills.
The way someone writes reveals how they think.
Clear writing = Clear thinking
Structured paragraphs = Structured mind
Impactful sentences = Impactful ideas
Effective writing isn’t about using sophisticated vocabulary. Hemingway demonstrated that deceptively simple, stripped-down prose can captivate readers. Effective writing takes intricate thoughts and presents them in a way that makes the reader think, “Damn! Why didn’t I see it that way?” A good writer is a dead giveaway for a good thinker. More than ever, the business world needs “good thinkers.”
Therefore, when I come across a candidate who’s a good writer, hence a good thinker, I know they’re likely to be able to write:
Emails that don’t get deleted immediately and are responded to
Simple, concise, and unambiguous instructions
Pitches that are likely to get read
Social media content that stops thumbs
Human-sounding website copy
Persuasively, while attuned to the reader’s possible sensitivities
Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: AI, which job seekers are using en masse. Earlier this year, I wrote that AI’s ability to hyper-increase an employee’s productivity—AI is still in its infancy; we’ve seen nothing yet—in certain professions, such as writing, sales and marketing, computer programming, office and admin, and customer service, makes it a “fewer employees needed” tool, which understandably greatly appeals to employers. In my opinion, the recent layoffs aren’t related to the economy; they’re due to employers adopting AI. Additionally, companies are trying to balance investing in AI with cost-cutting measures. CEOs who’ve previously said, “Our people are everything,” have arguably created today’s job market by obsessively focusing on AI to gain competitive advantages and reduce their largest expense, their payroll.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume that most AI usage involves generating written content, content that’s obvious to me, and likely to you as well, to have been written by AI. However, here’s the twist: I don’t particularly care.
Why?
Because the fundamental skill I’m looking for is the ability to organize thoughts and communicate effectively. What I care about is whether the candidate can take AI-generated content and transform it into something uniquely valuable. If they can, they’re demonstrating the skills of being a good thinker and communicator. It’s like being a great DJ; anyone can push play, but it takes skill to read a room and mix music that gets people pumped.
Using AI requires prompting effectively, which requires good writing skills to write clear and precise instructions that guide the AI to produce desired outcomes. Prompting AI effectively requires understanding structure, flow and impact. You need to know how to shape raw information, such as milestones throughout your career when you achieved quantitative results, into a compelling narrative.
So, what’s the best way to gain and enhance your writing skills? As with any skill, you’ve got to work at it.
Two rules guide my writing:
Use strong verbs and nouns instead of relying on adverbs, such as “She dashed to the store.” instead of “She ran quickly to the store.” or “He whispered to the child.” instead of “He spoke softly to the child.”
Avoid using long words when a shorter one will do, such as “use” instead of “utilize” or “ask” instead of “inquire.” As attention spans get shorter, I aim for clarity, simplicity and, most importantly, brevity in my writing.
Don’t just string words together; learn to organize your thoughts, think critically, and communicate clearly. Solid writing skills will significantly set you apart from your competition, giving you an advantage in your job search and career.
Nick Kossovan, a well-seasoned veteran of the corporate landscape, offers “unsweetened” job search advice. You can send Nick your questions to artoffindingwork@gmail.com.
MONTREAL – Politics, public opinion and salary hikes south of the border helped push Air Canada toward a deal that secures major pay gains for pilots, experts say.
Hammered out over the weekend, the would-be agreement includes a cumulative wage hike of nearly 42 per cent over four years — an enormous bump by historical standards — according to one source who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. The previous 10-year contract granted increases of just two per cent annually.
The federal government’s stated unwillingness to step in paved the way for a deal, noted John Gradek, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made it plain the two sides should hash one out themselves.
“Public opinion basically pressed the federal cabinet, including the prime minister, to keep their hands clear of negotiations and looking at imposing a settlement,” said Gradek, who teaches aviation management at McGill University.
After late-night talks at a hotel near Toronto’s Pearson airport, the country’s biggest airline and the union representing 5,200-plus aviators announced early Sunday morning they had reached a tentative agreement, averting a strike that would have grounded flights and affected some 110,000 passengers daily.
The relative precariousness of the Liberal minority government as well as a push to appear more pro-labour underlay the prime minister’s hands-off approach to the negotiations.
Trudeau said Friday the government would not step in to fix the impasse — unlike during a massive railway work stoppage last month and a strike by WestJet mechanics over the Canada Day long weekend that workers claimed road roughshod over their constitutional right to collective bargaining. Trudeau said the government respects the right to strike and would only intervene if it became apparent no negotiated deal was possible.
“They felt that they really didn’t want to try for a third attempt at intervention and basically said, ‘Let’s let the airline decide how they want to deal with this one,'” said Gradek.
“Air Canada ran out of support as the week wore on, and by the time they got to Friday night, Saturday morning, there was nothing left for them to do but to basically try to get a deal set up and accepted by ALPA (Air Line Pilots Association).”
Trudeau’s government was also unlikely to consider back-to-work legislation after the NDP tore up its agreement to support the Liberal minority in Parliament, Gradek said. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party has traditionally toed a more pro-business line, also said last week that Tories “stand with the pilots” and swore off “pre-empting” the negotiations.
Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau had asked Ottawa on Thursday to impose binding arbitration pre-emptively — “before any travel disruption starts” — if talks failed. Backed by business leaders, he’d hoped for an effective repeat of the Conservatives’ move to head off a strike in 2012 by legislating Air Canada pilots and ground crew to stick to their posts before any work stoppage could start.
The request may have fallen flat, however. Gradek said he believes there was less anxiety over the fallout from an airline strike than from the countrywide railway shutdown.
He also speculated that public frustration over thousands of cancelled flights would have flowed toward Air Canada rather than Ottawa, prompting the carrier to concede to a deal yielding “unheard of” gains for employees.
“It really was a total collapse of the Air Canada bargaining position,” he said.
Pilots are slated to vote in the coming weeks on the four-year contract.
Last year, pilots at Delta Air Lines, United Airlines and American Airlines secured agreements that included four-year pay boosts ranging from 34 per cent to 40 per cent, ramping up pressure on other carriers to raise wages.
After more than a year of bargaining, Air Canada put forward an offer in August centred around a 30 per cent wage hike over four years.
But the final deal, should union members approve it, grants a 26 per cent increase in the first year alone, retroactive to September 2023, according to the source. Three wage bumps of four per cent would follow in 2024 through 2026.
Passengers may wind up shouldering some of that financial load, one expert noted.
“At the end of the day, it’s all us consumers who are paying,” said Barry Prentice, who heads the University of Manitoba’s transport institute.
Higher fares may be mitigated by the persistence of budget carrier Flair Airlines and the rapid expansion of Porter Airlines — a growing Air Canada rival — as well as waning demand for leisure trips. Corporate travel also remains below pre-COVID-19 levels.
Air Canada said Sunday the tentative contract “recognizes the contributions and professionalism of Air Canada’s pilot group, while providing a framework for the future growth of the airline.”
The union issued a statement saying that, if ratified, the agreement will generate about $1.9 billion of additional value for Air Canada pilots over the course of the deal.
Meanwhile, labour tension with cabin crew looms on the horizon. Air Canada is poised to kick off negotiations with the union representing more than 10,000 flight attendants this year before the contract expires on March 31.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
HALIFAX – Ottawa is negotiating a $500-million bailout for Nova Scotia’s privately owned electric utility, saying the money will be used to prevent a big spike in electricity rates.
Federal Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson made the announcement today in Halifax, saying Nova Scotia Power Inc. needs the money to cover higher costs resulting from the delayed delivery of electricity from the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric plant in Labrador.
Wilkinson says that without the money, the subsidiary of Emera Inc. would have had to increase rates by 19 per cent over “the short term.”
Nova Scotia Power CEO Peter Gregg says the deal, once approved by the province’s energy regulator, will keep rate increases limited “to be around the rate of inflation,” as costs are spread over a number of years.
The utility helped pay for construction of an underwater transmission link between Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, but the Muskrat Falls project has not been consistent in delivering electricity over the past five years.
Those delays forced Nova Scotia Power to spend more on generating its own electricity.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
