Most people don’t do this. In fact, very few people do.

Why?

It’s a long and slow process. If you hire a lawyer to help you, it will be expensive, and, if you don’t, you’ll need to do a lot of work yourself.

And the outcome is sometimes not very satisfying.

Some people hope that, at the end of the process, they’ll be told that, yes, they were harassed, and it shouldn’t have happened. But that hardly ever happens. Only about 5% of complaints ever get to a final ruling. The rest are settled in conciliation or thrown out, abandoned or withdrawn.

So why do people decide to file a complaint?

Some people want to go to court and speak the truth in public. Even if their odds of winning are low.

If that’s what you want, the Human Rights Tribunal can be a good choice.

It’s a shorter process than civil court—usually about a year—whereas civil court cases can take several years. You’re allowed to represent yourself, which means you don’t need to pay for a lawyer. And it’s a little less adversarial than civil court.

The Alberta Human Rights Commission and Tribunal and what they do

One law that protects you from discrimination is the Alberta Human Rights Act. Sexual harassment under the act can constitute discrimination based on sex.

If you’ve been sexually harassed, you may be able file a formal complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission. The commission will review your complaint and assess whether it should be accepted. Commission staff encourage parties to reach a settlement on their own (in a process called conciliation) or may investigate the issues. If the parties can’t resolve the matter and the commission staff recommend it for a hearing, the case will then go to the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal.

The tribunal is the decision-making arm of the commission. It is less formal than a court, but more formal than many other legal processes. The tribunal hears discrimination cases that cannot be resolved at the commission.

The commission and tribunal both work to resolve complaints. You will be strongly encouraged to try to resolve the complaint through conciliation. If that doesn’t work, the tribunal holds a hearing, listens to both sides, and decides whether you were sexually harassed. If it decides you were, it may order the other party to make amends in some way.

Why consider filing a complaint with the commission

If you decide to file a complaint with the commission, here are a few things you may get out of the process:

• It’s a chance to tell the harasser what they did is not okay.
• You might get back money you lost because of the harassment—maybe you didn’t get a special project or a promotion, or were fired.
• You might get your job back, or get a reference for a new one.
• You could request that your workplace make changes that would affect everyone there, not just you, like improving employee policies and training around sexual harassment.
• It is possible to get some money to recognize the emotional harm you suffered from the harassment.

The Alberta Human Rights Commission website has information about the process and what to expect. Resources on how to make a human rights complaint developed by Native Counselling Services of Alberta are available in English, Cree, and Blackfoot.

Pros and cons of filing a human rights complaint

Will the commission accept my complaint?

• You have one year from when the harassment happened to file your complaint with the commission. If the harassment happened more than once, the deadline is one year from the last incident of harassment. In certain situations, the commission will accept late complaints if you can show there was a good reason for the delay and the late complaint will not cause significant harm to the respondent.
• You can file a complaint with the commission commission if you work in Alberta or if the harassment happened in Alberta, but not if you work at federally regulated workplaces. See Am I a federally regulated worker? (And why it matters). If you’re unionized, you must make your complaint through your union. See Working with your union. You’re covered if you’re non-unionized, temporary or permanent, an independent contractor, or undocumented.
• After you submit your complaint, the commission director might decide that the harassment you faced doesn’t relate to a ground of discrimination under the act. In that case, your complaint will not proceed.
• If you’ve already started a case in civil court, the commission director may wait until after the case is finished to proceed with your complaint. There are a couple of exceptions to this: if you withdraw the civil case, or if your civil case is dealing with a different issue, that is not included in your human rights complaint. For example, if the civil court case is only about unpaid wages or severance.
• Your complaint may be delayed if you are going through a grievance process at Occupational Health and Safety. See Should you apply for workers comp?
• Even if you have another case going on, you still have to apply to the commission within one year of the last incident. You can file your complaint to get it in within the deadline, and then ask the commission to wait to process it until after the other case is resolved.
• If you win your other case, the commission may decide not to hear your complaint. If you lose the case and feel as if the other process didn’t deal with the same human rights issues, you can explain this to the commission. It will decide whether your case has been dealt with.
• You can file a complaint against anybody who is sexually harassing you at work—your employer, a co-worker, a supervisor, a customer, or a contractor. In your complaint, you can also name the company or organization you were or are working for. Even if your employer is not harassing you, they have to protect you from sexual harassment and a harassing environment. See How can I talk with my employer to get them to stop the harassment?

Who’s who

Complainant

When you file a complaint with the commission, you are the complainant. That means you are the person who is filing a complaint that you have been sexually harassed.

Respondent

The respondent can be anyone who is harassing you or has harassed you at work—your boss, a co-worker, a customer, even a contractor. There may be several respondents. You can file a complaint against both the person who harassed you and your employer for not protecting you.

Representative

You and the respondent are both allowed to have a lawyer represent you through the commission process, or you can represent yourself. If you are represented by a lawyer, the commission will generally communicate only with your representative, and it will be their responsibility to keep you informed.

Human rights officer

After you file a complaint, a human rights officer will likely be assigned to your matter. Their job is to help you and the respondent settle your complaint. Most complaints go to conciliation, which is a non-adversarial process like a mediation.

Commission director

If conciliation is not successful, the human rights officer will report to the commission director. A decision team may dismiss your case or report the failure to settle to the Chief of the Commission and Tribunals, who may appoint a human rights tribunal to hear the matter.

TDR commission member

The first phase of the hearing process is tribunal dispute resolution (TDR). Another non-adversarial mediation process called a TDR conference is conducted by a TDR commission member. The member’s role is help you and the respondent to reach a settlement.

Tribunal chair

If TDR fails, the complaint goes to a hearing run by the tribunal chair. They may be joined by two other members. Their job is to listen to you and the respondent, and make a decision about whether your complaint is justified. Very few cases ever get to the hearing stage. If your complaint is found to be justified, they will order the respondent to do various things, like give you money as compensation for what you experienced.

What you’ll have to prove

• It’s you, the complainant, who has to show there are grounds to go forward to a hearing. Once the commission accepts that it can hear your case, you will have to convince the tribunal that there was more than a 50% chance that what happened to you was sexual harassment under the act. This is called the burden of proof on a balance of probabilities. The tribunal will use the “reasonable person” standard to decide whether your harasser should have known that their behaviour was unwelcome. This standard considers what a reasonable person in your position would have thought, and what a reasonable person in your harasser’s position would have thought about the situation.
• You’ll have a chance to tell your story, or testify, submit documents, and bring witnesses to the hearing to prove your case. Sexual harassment often occurs without witnesses. However, the commission will still consider your testimony (you stating what happened and how it affected you) even if there are no documents or witnesses to support what you are saying. You may have to prove your case mainly through talking about your story at the hearing and explaining what happened.
• Usually, there needs to be more than one incident. But sometimes, one incident can be so serious that it falls under the definition of sexual harassment. Remember, just because you didn’t say “no” or “stop” doesn’t mean that what the respondent did wasn’t sexual harassment. Under the act, the harasser either has to know or should have reasonably known that their behaviour was unwelcome. There may be many reasons why you might not have felt comfortable saying anything when the harassment was happening, like a power imbalance between you and your boss, or your fear that you would get punished if you said anything to an important client.

Other important considerations

• When the tribunal writes and publishes a decision, it usually includes the full name of the parties. But it will publish only the initials of a party who is younger than 18. If you do not want to have your full name published, and you can provide a good reason for this, you can ask the tribunal to use only your initials in the published decision. This is known as anonymization. You can ask for an anonymized decision at any point after you apply. However, the commission only grants such requests in “exceptional circumstances.”
• If you need some changes in the process to help you take part at the commission or the tribunal, request those as soon as you can. You can ask for accommodations of medical needs, religious observances, or for language reasons. You may have to supply more information, like medical documents.

Possible outcomes

The Alberta Human Rights Act lists the remedies that the tribunal can order at the end of a sexual harassment case, if you are successful. There are many factors that affect the kind of, and the amount of, any remedies you receive. One might be how vulnerable you were and how much of a power imbalance there was between you and your harasser. There are two categories of remedies.

Monetary compensation

• General damages compensate you for the loss of or harm to dignity, feelings, and self-respect.
• Special damages compensate you for lost wages, or for things you had to pay for yourself because of the harassment, such as therapy. Special damages can include the costs you will continue to have, such as future therapy appointments.

Non-monetary compensation

• Future compliance, or public interest remedies, can be things like changes to your workplace policies. You could, for example, ask for training for the harasser on sexual harassment policies.
• Non-monetary compensation can also include things like your employer giving you a reference letter, or taking steps to get you back to a job, either at the same workplace or another one. It can also include transferring your harasser to a different department.

When you fill out your complaint you can list what remedies you would like in each of these categories, including the total amount of money you think you should receive. Be aware that the tribunal looks at what kinds of steps you took to reduce the losses you faced because of the harassment. This is called mitigation. If you did not take steps to limit your financial losses—for example, by looking for a new job after having been fired—the tribunal may lower the amount of money it will award to you for lost income.

If you want to learn more about the kinds of remedies the tribunal has ordered in cases that may be like yours, you can search for decisions related to sexual harassment and read full case decisions on CanLII, a free database for legal decisions in Canada. See how to search for and read decisions on CanLII here.

At a hearing, the decision-maker can only order remedies allowed under the act. At mediation, a settlement can contain whatever terms and remedies you and the respondent agree on. Usually the conciliator will try to help the parties decide on remedies by explaining what the tribunal can and would likely decide if the case does go to a hearing. Read more about mediation and the hearing process below.

The commission process step-by-step

You may be able to get help from a lawyer for free or at lower cost:

• Independent Legal Advice for Survivors of Sexual Violence, a project of the Elizabeth Fry Society, is based in Edmonton and also serves the communities of Stony Plain, Morinville, St. Albert, Sherwood Park, Fort Saskatchewan, Ponoka, Camrose, Wetaskiwin, Red Deer, and Fort McMurray. You can receive up to four hours of free legal advice and can also attend legal clinics.
• JusticeNet is a not-for-profit service for those whose income is too high to qualify for legal aid but too low to afford regular legal fees. To qualify you must have a net family income under $90,000 and be experiencing financial difficulties. Participating lawyers’ reduced rates vary depending on your family size and income.
• Your workplace union, association, or Employee Assistance Program may be able to help you find legal services or cover part of your legal fees.

Applying

The Complaint Form and a Complaint Guide are available on the commission website.To request copies of forms if you have trouble downloading them, don’t have access to a computer or printer, need accessible forms, or have questions about other languages, email [email protected] or leave a message at 1-780-427-7661, or toll-free 1-310-0000.

Filling out your complaint to the commission might take more time than you expect. You will need to fill in a lot of details, such as: information about your employer; the effect the harassment had on you; the remedies you are asking for; the kind of documents you plan on showing the commission; and much more. Remember that you need to apply within one year of the last time the harassment happened. Staff at the commission can help to explain the form or make sure that you have included everything you need before sending it in.

You can send your complaint form by mail or email. Visit the website for contact information.

After you apply

After you apply, you’ll get a letter from the commission with your case file number. This does not mean that the commission has accepted your complaint. It is just the way it tracks your file. If you are filing your complaint yourself, you must use this number in all future communication with the commission.

Process	What this looks like
The commission accepts your complaint	It will send a copy of your complaint to the respondent and they will then have 30 days to give an answer to it, called a response. However, extensions are commonly granted
After submitting your complaint, you want to withdraw it	If you want to withdraw your complaint before the respondent has acted on it, you can. Your case will simply be closed and nothing more will happen. Contact the commission right away if you want to withdraw
After you submit your complaint, the commission reviews it and wants to defer because another proceeding is happening	If you want to ask the commission to proceed with the complaint, you can explain why
A human rights officer is assigned who decides if the case will go through the conciliation process	Follow the deadlines and steps communicated to you. You will be asked for more details and the commission staff will work with you to understand what happened and see if there is a way to resolve your complaint
If the complaint is not resolved through the conciliation process, the officer refers the complaint to the commission director, who reviews and dismisses it	You can appeal this decision and it will be reviewed
After you submit your complaint, the commission reviews it and finds that there’s information missing	Supply the missing information and send the complaint back to the commission

Mediation

Mediation is the process of trying to settle your case by coming to an agreement with the respondent. The aim is not to determine whether you were sexually harassed according to the act. Mediation is a way of encouraging the parties to settle their dispute without having to go to a hearing where someone else will decide if the law was broken. Remember that, if you agree to a settlement in mediation, your case will not go to a hearing. The tribunal will not write a public decision and your case will wrap up faster. You won’t have to talk at the hearing about what happened to you, or face questions about it. Remember that you are in control during mediation and can decide whether and how you want to settle, although the human rights officer tends to encourage settling.

Human rights cases in Alberta can go through up to two rounds of mediation. Conciliation is the process right at the beginning, when there might be a chance of resolving the issue. A tribunal dispute resolution conference happens right before a matter goes to tribunal. These two mediation attempts are facilitated by commission or tribunal members.

Before a case reaches the tribunal stage, it is dealt with by a human rights officer, who acts as a conciliator. If this step is not successful and the complaint is not dismissed, it moves to the tribunal.

Once a case has been referred to the tribunal, a tribunal member will attempt to mediate the case. This process is called tribunal dispute resolution and the meeting is called a TDR conference.

Mediators are neutral parties who will not take a side before, during, or after the process. You or your lawyer can provide information or show documents to a mediator and request they keep it confidential from the other side. In a mediation, they work with both sides to try to find a resolution that works for everyone.

Before the mediation

Process	You might need to do
Receive the details of the mediation scheduling	Make a request for accommodation If the mediation is in person, request shuttle mediation, which involves the parties being in separate rooms so you don’t have to sit with the respondent Plan for emotional support, before, during, and after the mediation

If you and the respondent reach an agreement, you will sign a document, often called a settlement agreement. The settlement agreement will have all the things you and the respondent agreed to. It also often includes a confidentiality clause saying that both you and the respondent will not talk about the case or the settlement.

After the mediation

Process	You might need to do
Sign the settlement agreement	If you reached agreement, sign the agreement
Enforce the agreement	Contact the commission if the respondent is not complying with the non-monetary parts of the settlement Send a demand letter File with a court to have the monetary part of the order enforced. Your agreement is a legal document, or contract, and the respondent must follow what it says. This is a complicated process and you should get help from a lawyer to do this

The hearing

You’ve made a complaint to the commission, participated in the conciliation or investigation process, and the commission has referred your case for a hearing. You will receive a notice telling you the schedule for the hearing process, starting with the TDR mediation.

The tribunal can hold hearings in person or virtually.

If your case does not settle at TDR mediation, there will be a pre-hearing conference call with all the parties to discuss the hearing and try to simplify what comes next. The tribunal registrar will run the call. They will explain how the hearing will go and address any of the remaining issues before the hearing.

The tribunal chair will run the hearing. The process leading up to the hearing has many steps, each with its own deadline. The tribunal process is described on the commission website.

Now it’s time to prepare, if you don’t have a lawyer to represent you. Mostly, you will want to get your evidence and arguments ready.

Preparing for the hearing

Things to do	You might want to do
File hearing submissions with the tribunal and serve them on the other parties. Your hearing submissions should include a witness list (including the names of each witness to appear at the hearing), a brief statement summarizing each witness’s expected evidence, and any documents you intend to rely on at the hearing.   Deadline: 30 days before the hearing	If a witness doesn’t want to attend, get a signed notice to appear from the tribunal and send it to the witness
Review all the respondent’s witness statements and documents. Identify gaps and inconsistencies. Prepare cross-examination questions
Tell all your witnesses the details about the hearing and arrange when and how you will meet them if the hearing’s in person Deadline: At least 21 days before the hearing
Create a list of your documents that you have to give to the other side and send to the respondent   List documents that you want to claim privilege over and send the list to the respondent   Deadline: 21 days after the pre-conference hearing	Request an order asking for additional documents from the respondent
Send documents you are going to rely on during your hearing to the respondent and the tribunal. This includes witness statements from all witnesses you intend to call during the hearing
Respond to the respondent’s request to provide your privileged documents
Prepare for the pre-hearing conference call by pointing out issues that might need to be addressed before the hearing	Request any accommodations you need in advance, in writing

Attending the hearing

If your hearing is in person, it may happen at the tribunal offices in Calgary or Edmonton, or in another location, like a meeting room at a hotel.

Each party will make opening statements at the beginning of the hearing and closing statements about the case at the very end. The commission director will go first. The tribunal will receive documents and hear from witnesses about what they know about your sexual harassment allegations.

When the hearing is coming to an end, the chair will review all of the evidence that you, the commission, and the respondent have presented both before and during the hearing. The tribunal will issue its decision within 120 days.

The decision

The tribunal will send its decision to you by mail or email. If you have a lawyer, they will get a copy. It will also be posted on CanLII, a free database for legal decisions in Canada. See how to search for and read decisions on CanLII here.

The decision will explain how the tribunal looked at the facts in the case and applied the Alberta Human Rights Act and other cases decided by the tribunal to your situation. It will state whether your complaint was successful and whether you were sexually harassed according to the law. If your complaint was successful, the decision will outline the remedies you will be receiving.

If you are happy with the decision and the remedies, you will need to make sure that the respondent follows the orders in the decision. If the respondent doesn’t do what they’re ordered to do, you can take steps to enforce the decision.

Process	You might need to do
Enforce the decision	Send a demand letter Apply to the commission to enforce the non-monetary award File with a court to have the monetary part of the order enforced. The agreement is a legal contract, and the respondent must follow what it says. This is a complicated process and you should get help from a lawyer to do this
Apply for reconsideration	If there is new evidence, you can ask the tribunal to reconsider
Judicial review	If you think the tribunal didn’t follow the law when making the decision, you can ask a court to review the decision

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The Workers’ Compensation Board, created in 1918, is an independent organization financed by employers that gives benefits and supports to people who’ve been injured at work. These can include replacement of lost wages, health care (including rehabilitation, counselling, and medications), and, in extreme situations, retraining.

If you’ve been harmed by sexual harassment at work, you might think the WCB will help you.

• Maybe after you were harassed, you took time off work and so lost income.
• Maybe the harassment damaged your mental health, and you ended up needing to spend money on medication for anxiety or depression.
• Maybe the harassment had such an effect on you that you had to leave a male-dominated industry and ended up needing to retrain for a new type of work in a different field. 

Those are the kinds of expenses—replacement of lost wages, medication costs, retraining costs—that the WCB normally does reimburse.

And so it might sound like a good idea to file a claim with the WCB.

But we need to warn you: The WCB is unlikely to help you. 

The WCB doesn’t investigate or adjudicate workplace sexual harassment claims. It’s not going to say, “Yes, you were harassed, and you were punished for reporting it. Here is some money to make up for the pay you lost.” It’s not going to say, “We agree with you that your industry is unfriendly to people like you, and that it makes sense for you to retrain for a different job where you’re less likely to be harassed. We will fund your retraining.”

All the WCB can do is to give you benefits and supports if you have suffered a physical injury at work (rare in cases of sexual harassment) or psychological injury (less rare in sexual harassment cases, which can be hard to prove). It will only help you if the harm you’ve suffered fits into one of those two categories. And if your employer disputes your claim, which it probably will, proving your case before the WCB will be harder.

Historically, the WCB has mostly handled claims related to physical injuries suffered by workers in male-dominated fields like construction, manufacturing, and uniform occupations like policing and firefighting. If you slip at work and break your ankle, or are struck by a falling object, or are injured in a fire or explosion: that is the kind of situation the WCB was designed for, and has a lot of experience handling. It has less experience with mental health claims, which it classifies as psychological injuries.

If you apply for psychological injury benefits, you may be turned down. If you want to pursue the claim after being denied, you’ll need to be prepared to go through an appeal process. Appealing can take a long time, and, of the few appeals that are heard, many are denied.

Psychological injury claims

The WCB awards benefits due to the injury you sustained, which in your case would be damaged mental health. This requires a diagnosis of conditions described in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5, like depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, adjustment disorder, or anxiety. 

There are two categories of mental health injuries that might be caused by sexual harassment in the workplace.

Chronic onset psychological injuries or stress develop over time from ongoing work-related stressors. Being repeatedly harassed by a co-worker might lead to this type of injury. 

Traumatic onset psychological injury or stress results from a specific traumatic event, such as harassment that includes physical violence, the threat of physical violence, or a life-threatening situation. The incident itself is the source of the trauma. These claims are often based on a single traumatic event, but the WCB can also consider multiple incidents if the cumulative impact is traumatic.

The WSB has fact sheets on bullying and harassment and psychological injuries claims.

Pros and cons of going to the WCB

Will the WCB accept my application?

• To be eligible for benefits and services under the WCB process, you must be a “worker” employed in a business or industry that is covered by the Workers’ Compensation Act. About 92% of workers in Alberta are covered by the WCB.
• If you aren’t sure whether you’re covered by the WCB, you can call (1-866-922-9221), or seek advice from your union, a lawyer, or the Advisor Office.  
• The WCB will only accept your claim if the harassment took place in the course of your employment. Meaning, harassment only counts if it takes place at work, during your work hours (or within a reasonable period before or after work), and while you are performing your work duties. If you live on your employer’s property, harassment that takes place outside work hours may still be covered. Similarly, if your work requires you to go to different places, you may be covered while travelling and at the different locations.
• The WCB won’t cover every kind of mental stress that arises at work. If you develop a mental health condition caused by your employer making changes to your shifts or other working conditions, for example, or firing you, or due to interpersonal conflicts that don’t involve harassment, you aren’t eligible to file a claim.
• As a general principle, the law says that you can’t have the same issue decided twice in two different places. If you start a case for the same problem in more than one forum, it’s possible that the decision-maker in one of them will wait until the case has been decided in the other forum or dismiss it altogether. People often try the WCB first. However, it’s best to speak with a lawyer about your options, as the facts of your case may allow you to approach more than one forum. See How to find and work with a lawyer.

Special situations

Contact the WCB (1-866-922-9221) to learn about the rules that apply if you are in one of these categories:

• non-resident worker
• undocumented or non-status
• don’t have a work permit
• foreign agricultural worker

The WCB will look for proof of these five things when it reviews your chronic onset psychological injury or stress claim:

1. That you experienced sexual harassment during the course of your employment that gave rise to a psychological injury.

2. That you have a confirmed diagnosis that is recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–5. Some examples include acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, or depression.

3. That work-related stressors or sexual harassment is the predominant—or chief—cause of your psychological injury.

4. There is an indication that the work-related stressors or sexual harassment is “excessive and unusual.” Though no amount of sexual harassment should be considered “acceptable,” the WCB will still have to consider the “excessive or unusual” element of the test for chronic onset psychological injury or stress.

5. There is objective confirmation of the events, such as emails, texts, or witness statements.

The WCB will look for proof of these four things when it reviews your traumatic onset psychological injury or stress claim:

1. That you have experienced a psychological injury that arises from a single traumatic work-related event or a cumulative series of traumatic work-related events. The WCB defines a traumatic event as “specific, sudden, frightening or shocking; and/or an actual or threatened death or serious injury to oneself or others or threat to one’s physical integrity.” This could mean violence was involved. It could also be related to workloads or interpersonal events that are “excessive and unusual.”

2. That you suffered a psychological injury. This requires a diagnosis that is recognized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5. Some examples: acute stress disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety or depression.

3. There is an indication that the work-related stressors or sexual harassment is “excessive and unusual.” Though no amount of sexual harassment should be considered “acceptable,” the WCB will still have to consider the “excessive or unusual” element of the test for chronic onset psychological injury or stress.

4. There is objective confirmation of the events, such as emails, texts, or witness statements.

The WCB will consider whether the harassment you faced was “objectively” traumatic. This means that the incident would have to be generally considered as traumatic by the “average worker” or “reasonable observer.” Unfortunately, this overlooks how the sexual harassment has been traumatic for you. Being told that the harassment you experienced was something that the “average worker” wouldn’t think of as traumatic can affect you in a variety of ways. It’s a good idea to connect with mental health supports, which can help you through this difficult situation.

Legal help

You may be able to get help from a lawyer for free. Here are some places that offer free or less expensive legal services:

• The Advisor Office is an independent government agency that provides free and confidential services about workplace injuries and compensation to workers. This office can provide information, advice, and help with representation to you throughout the appeals process.
• At the Women’s Centre of Calgary female volunteer lawyers offer free legal advice clinics.
• Calgary Legal Guidance’s Sahwoo mohkaak tsi ma taas clinic provides Indigenous community members free legal advice on a variety of areas, including employment law. It may be able to offer free legal representation.
• Edmonton Community Legal Centre offers free legal advice and help to low-income individuals through its Civil Law program.
• You can get a consultation with a lawyer through the Lawyer Referral Service through the Law Society of Alberta. The first half hour is free. Request a referral online or by phone (1-800-661-1095). 
• JusticeNet is a not-for-profit service for those whose income is too high to qualify for legal aid but too low to afford regular legal fees. To qualify you must have a family income under $90,000 and be experiencing financial difficulties. Participating lawyers’’ reduced rates vary depending on your family size and income.
• Your workplace union, association, or Employee Assistance Program may be able to help you find legal services or cover part of your legal fees.

For advice on hiring a lawyer, see How to find and work with a lawyer.

Social and health supports

• Alberta 211: This community and social services helpline is available 24 hours a day by phone (211) or online. It can put you in touch with thousands of services, supports, programs and more.

Applying

First, you must decide if filing a claim with the WCB is the right choice for you. Because there is a high turndown rate for claims involving psychological injury due to sexual harassment, there might be other forums—for example, the Alberta Human Rights Commission or civil court—where you could have a better chance of success.

If you do choose to go to the WCB, you’ll find more information about work-related mental stress injuries and the application process here. See also submitting a report. You can submit the completed online form (Worker Report of Injury or Occupational Disease—Form C060) electronically (follow the instructional video on the WCB website), using the myWCB app, or by mailing the pdf version to:

WCB-Alberta
P.O. Box 2415
Edmonton, AB T5J 2S5

You must file your application within two years of the injury. If you are already past the two-year deadline, in some circumstances the WCB may extend this deadline.

Once you’ve filed a claim, the WCB will assign you a claim number.

Your employer’s report

You must give a copy of your Form C060 to your employer. As soon as you report an injury to them, they have to complete the Employer Report of Injury or Occupational Disease (Form C040). This will include information about your job, your earnings, and your injury. They must submit the Form C040 to the WCB and give you a copy. The form asks your employer whether they want to dispute your claim, in which case they will need to provide their reasons why. There is a very high likelihood that your employer will do this.

A health professional’s report

A physician must provide information on your diagnosis and how your ability to work is affected within 48 hours of learning of your injury.

After the forms are filed

Once all of the forms have been submitted, an eligibility adjudicator will consider your claim. If there’s an inconsistency between your version of events and your employer’s about whether the injury happened at work, a WCB investigator might contact any witnesses you listed on your form. They might also contact you to ask about the details. Many claims are disallowed at this stage.

If your claim is approved

Benefits are outlined on the WCB site and in the Worker Handbook, which also describes the claims process. If your claim has been successful you may be eligible to receive:

• health care benefits like therapy and prescription drugs
• money to replace income you’ve lost due to your injury
• retraining, if necessary

Returning to work

The WCB’s focus is on getting you back into the workplace. Except in specific industries, your employer has an obligation to re-employ you. Your health professional is key to this step. The WCB will also contact your employer to develop a suitable return-to-work plan. In the case of sexual harassment, this might include arranging that you work at a different location from the harasser.

A staff member from the WCB (usually your case manager) will work with you, your employer, and your health professional, if necessary, to develop a return-to-work plan. If your WCB case manager requests one, you may have a special return-to-work coordinator from the WCB help you.

A return-to-work plan sets out the steps you’ll need to take in order to resume your job. A training-on-the-job plan is based on the fact that you’re not able to do your old job and have to be retrained for a new type of work. Fewer than 200 workers a year are retrained.

Because your return-to-work or training-on-the-job plan will be guided by what your health professional says about your health, it’s a good idea to tell them about any concerns you have. They might be able to advocate on your behalf and make suitable recommendations. The training-on-the-job plan will be very detailed. It may also set out any permanent accommodations you might require.

If your claim is turned down

Claims for psychological injury due to sexual harassment are frequently denied. Appealing is lengthy and seldom successful.

If you are unsuccessful, the first step you might consider is to try to speak with the decision-maker and give any further information you think is relevant. You can also request a review of the decision. You have one year to do so. Once the WCB receives your request, a supervisor will work with you to discuss a possible resolution. If you still have concerns with the decision, the WCB will forward your request to the Dispute Resolution and Decision Review Body (DRDRB). This review can be through documents only, a telephone conference with you and your employer, or an in-person meeting. A resolution specialist will work with everyone to try to resolve the issue.

If you want a copy of your claim file at any point during the process, contact the claims centre at 1-866-922-9221.

If you still have concerns about the DRDRB decision, you may be able to go to the Appeals Commission.

Appeals Commission

The Appeals Commission is the final level of appeal if you disagree with a WCB decision. It’s independent from the WCB but applies WCB policies in its decisions. You must have already gone through the WCB appeal process to reach the commission. You have one year from the date of the WCB decision to file an appeal to the commission.

You are allowed to appeal these issues:

• decisions of a review body about compensation payable
• decisions of a review body about an assessment
• a decision of the WCB about whether you are entitled to compensation

You can also request a medical panel review your matter. You cannot appeal a return-to-work decision.

The Appeals Commission process usually includes an in-person hearing before a panel, but sometimes is handled through written submissions only.The panel will consider:

• the records of the claims adjudicator and the review body relating to the claim
• the records and information available to the WCB
• all relevant evidence submitted by a participant that relates to the appeal

The Notice of Appeal form is available on the commission website. The information about where the form should be mailed, couriered, or delivered in person is on the notice.

The commission will confirm receipt and will contact the WCB to get your file. It will send you a date for the hearing and assign an appeals officer to your case; you can ask them any questions about how the appeal process works. For a thorough explanation of all the next steps, see the Appeals Commission outline of the appeal process.

In most of its cases, the Appeals Commission releases its decisions within six weeks after the hearing has finished. The commission will send you a written copy of its decision.

Appeals Commission decisions are final—there’s no additional appeal. You may request a reconsideration, but these requests are rarely granted. In rare circumstances you might be able to pursue a judicial review of the decision, which is a limited and technical review through the civil court system. If you are considering this, you should discuss your case with a lawyer to review your options. See How to find and work with a lawyer.

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