Sample Cases
Category: Posting
Finally Reunited
It took two months of persistence and follow-up, but happily this family is now re-united.
A female master corporal was promoted and posted to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Borden in June 2002. She was asked to accept the posting without her husband. Not wanting to jeopardize her promotion, she accepted the new posting. Meanwhile, her husband was first in line for a promotion in his Wing as a result of his last performance evaluation report. They both assumed that it was only a matter of time before he would be promoted and able to join her.
As time went by, the husband’s promotion did not materialize. The female master corporal was having great difficulty coping alone with two children, both of whom suffer from Tourette Syndrome. It became apparent that without the support of her husband, she was going to ‘burn out’.
The husband applied for a Quality of Life posting. It was denied. In spite of a social worker’s report endorsing the husband’s request to be posted with his family, every effort proved to be unsuccessful. In October 2001, the complainant wrote to us stating, “I feel your organization is my only hope of getting our family posted together.”
Our Office recognized that these were compelling circumstances. We intervened immediately by contacting the complainant’s commanding officer, the husband’s commanding officer and career managers at National Defence headquarters. We persisted in making calls to the career managers on a regular basis. After numerous calls and discussions with all parties, we made it clear that the case demanded immediate resolution. The family’s situation was becoming critical.
The career manager’s office was attempting to find a solution to the problem. Finally, shortly after Christmas, they contacted the investigator. There was good news. A position had been found for the complainant’s husband. He would be posted to her location as soon as possible. Both were overjoyed. Our Office is confident that the resolution to this problem has resulted in easing the tensions in the complainant’s family life.
