Patrick Brazeau’s Twitter outburst rekindles interest in sexual harassment accusations
It's been a tough week for Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau.
On Tuesday, he caused a firestorm on Twitter after he essentially called Canadian Press reporter Jennifer Ditchburn a 'bitch' for publishing his poor attendance record in the Senate.
Brazeau, who made headlines in March losing a charity boxing match to Justin Trudeau, eventually apologized to Ditchburn but his reputation has taken a beating.
[ Related: Brazeau apologizes for insulting reporter on Twitter ]
And now there's more bad news for Brazeau: the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN) has entered the fray.
APTN National News is reporting that the Senator, who was appointed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2008, is fighting a sexual harassment battle in Federal Court.
In 2007, Alisa Lombard, a former junior staffer at the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples (CAP) accused Brazeau of harassment after a staff Christmas party.
According to APTN, Lombard accused Brazeau, — the national chief at CAP at the time — of courting her, trying to kiss her and sending her inappropriate text messages.
In her Ontario Human Rights Commission complaint form, according to APTN, Lombard wrote that a week after she sent a letter of complaint to CAP's board, her supervisor told her that her corporate email account would be cancelled and she would be out of a job by April 31, 2008.
"I was punished for the behaviour of my employer's manager," wrote Lombard. "I was warned that physical harm may be caused to my personal belongings by a colleague."
In one of her human rights complaints, Lombard described CAP's office environment under Brazeau's watch as toxic, awash in alcohol, with "bullying," swearing and "frequent sexual harassment."
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Brazeau was cleared of any wrongdoing by a third-party investigator paid for by CAP, and both the Canadian and Ontario Human Rights Commissions have ruled that the case was out of their respective jurisdictions.
Lombard is now asking the federal court to review CHRC's decision.
Brazeau, meanwhile, maintains his innocence.
"I was cleared of any wrong-doing," he told Yahoo! Canada News in an email Thursday. "I have won at every turn throughout and I am 100 per cent confident I will be successful in this matter."
"This story is nothing new, however, it seems APTN now has an interest in the matter most likely because of this week's events," he said.
For Brazeau, after a week like this, sparring in the ring with Justin Trudeau is probably like a walk in the park.