The Correctional Service of Canada has opened an investigation into the death of a Kingston correctional officer whose family alleges he took his own life earlier this year due to extensive harassment on the job
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The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) has opened an investigation into the death of a Kingston correctional officer whose family alleges he took his own life earlier this year due to extensive harassment on the job.
Bradley Gleeson took his own life at the beginning of April and the CSC is looking into why and how it is tied to Joyceville Institution, where he worked.
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Gleeson’s mother, Denise Ducette, speaking from her living room, surrounded by three of her son’s friends, described Brad as an outgoing person who adored his two young kids.
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“He was a very kind, loving guy,” Ducette said. “He loved people. He wore his heart on his sleeve as the saying goes. He would do anything for anybody. If he was working here and somebody called, he’d say ‘I’m going somewhere.’ I’d say ‘Where are you going?’ He’d say, ‘Out to somebody’s.’ I’d say ‘What about here?’ He’d say, ‘I’ll do it later,’ and he’d go and help somebody else.”
He was a very kind, loving guy
Denise Ducette
Little did she know about the allegations of how poorly her son was being treated by some of his co-workers while on the job, and the various forms of alleged harassment she believes eventually led to him taking his own life.
Sobbing, Ducette described how he came into her room on the morning of April 2.
“He came in around 4:30 in the morning,” she recalled. “I was watching my iPad because I’m not a good sleeper,” she said, trying to hold back tears. “He came in and gave me a kiss on the cheek and he hugged me and he said, ‘Mom I love you so much.’ That wasn’t unusual for me for him to do that because he always did it. When he called me, he would always say before he hung up, ‘Mom, I love you.’”
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Ducette said she and her son had a close relationship but couldn’t have imagined it would be the last time she would see her son alive.
“It was a shock,” said Ducette who described that later that morning, her home was filled with police officers and paramedics.
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Behind the doors of Joyceville Institution
Ducette said her son didn’t like being disliked and she was surprised to hear the allegations about the way he was treated by some of his co-workers at the prison.
“He hid a lot of stuff from me,” Ducette said. “I had no idea that all this stuff was going on at Joyceville. I had no idea. He told me a few things, but I had no idea things (had been) going on since he started there.”
Gleeson worked at Joyceville Institution for about 16 years, according to his mom. During that time, Ducette says there would be days that he could complete a full shift without anyone talking to him. They ignored him, Ducette said.
In some instances, Ducette said her son was put on a “dummy,” a slang term used in prison.
“Someone told me that a dummy is where you put (a correctional officer) in with the cons and there’s no backup. You’re in there on your own,” recalled Ducette, who said she was told by one of Gleeson’s work friends in the room this is true.
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“You’re working with these criminals, so you’d think it would be like a brotherhood and sisterhood where you would all work together to protect one another. But it wasn’t like that there,” Ducette said, adding that her son was bullied in multiple different ways.
“He had notes put in his locker. Just terrible things,” she said.
She said some of the guards also created a thread on Facebook messenger, just to harass him. They also created hurtful memes using his picture.
Allegations of harassment was ‘swept under the rug’
The friends in the room, who wanted to keep their identity hidden in fear of repercussion, said the allegations of harassment went even further than Ducette was aware of. They said it wasn’t everyone at Joyceville, but a certain group of people.
“This has been going on since I started,” said one of Gleeson’s friends. “But it’s escalating. Over the last few years, it’s gotten a lot worse. It’s the same group of people.”
“I know Brad had reached out to so many people about what was going on there,” the friend added. “Everyone I talked to that knows Brad, knows how toxic it was there. But it would just get swept under the rug. Any type of harassment I’ve heard of from Joyceville just gets swept under the rug.”
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“What I mean by that is management says it didn’t happen.”
management says it didn’t happen
Friends of Gleeson
According to Brad’s friends, the harassment toward Gleeson amped up during COVID-19. He had leukemia as a kid and was immunocompromised during the pandemic. As a result, he had to take time away from work, which according to the Government of Ontario is called “699,” other leave with pay.
It was a measure the government put in place to support and protect federal employees who weren’t able to work because they were sick or at risk of getting sick, they didn’t have child care or couldn’t access their IT network.
Brad’s friends said if someone took 699, or any type of leave, they were reprimanded for it by co-workers.
“Even if it’s parental leave, maternity leave, 699 leave, WSIB for PTSD, that’s a big one. You go off on PTSD, you’re done there. They basically put you on the dummy,” Brad’s friend said. “Even the comments that we’ve heard are ‘because of Brad I had to work 158 hours of forced overtime.’
“They were angry.”
They said that while Brad wasn’t the only person who took time off and put on the so-called bad list among co-workers, they felt he was targeted harder.
In another occurrence, friends alleged someone placed human feces in Gleeson’s work locker.
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His mom tried to get him to switch institutions, but she says it wouldn’t matter.
“He always said, ‘Well mom, they’re all the same and once they find out I’ve been bullied at Joyceville, then it will be the same. They will do the same at the other institutions.’ So that’s why he wouldn’t go,” Ducette said.
Former correctional officer speaks out
A former correctional officer, who also wanted to remain anonymous saying they feared additional harassment, worked with Brad at the prison for about 10 years and said during that time, they witnessed him being “razzed” or harassed quite a bit while at work.
“He didn’t go into a lot of details, just that it was never-ending,” recalled the former officer, who said they too were also harassed by other guards while on the job.
This person said they understood what it felt like to be a victim, but didn’t think it would result in him taking his own life.
“He was a great dad,” said the former officer. “Loved his kids so I was shocked in the sense that he would have left his children, but I was told that he had been harassed quite a bit at work and obviously that hit a sore spot with me. Then I wasn’t surprised because that place is incredibly toxic.”
In this person’s scenario, they had had a non-work-related incident that involved another co-worker back in 2016.
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“People at work tried to kick me off the union,” they said. “It resulted in cell doors being left open for my shift and inmates letting me know that the door was unlocked because somebody was hoping that I would get hurt.”
“Employees made rumours about me that weren’t true, just to keep the harassment going. My life was in danger there.”
My life was in danger there
Former Correctional Officer
The former officer also says they took it upon themself to get their schedule changed so they wouldn’t have interactions with this co-worker, but the tormenting continued.
At the time, the officer says they even went to the warden but nothing came of it.
They say they were even told to remain in the basement area of the jail so their co-worker could leave for the day without being seen.
“I was not to come out of the basement until that employee had reached Highway 15,” they said.
As a result of the continued alleged harassment, they say they sought therapy.
As part of their exit letter, which was dated Jan. 4, 2023, the officer emphasized how they were a victim of alleged harassment for too long.
CSC responded in part by writing, “Although the allegations are dated, I understand that Warden Jensen offered services and explained the avenues of redress available. Any allegations of inappropriate conduct will be reviewed in keeping with relevant policy and legislation. CSC is committed to providing a workplace free of harassment, violence and discrimination behaviour.”
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According to this particular officer, Jenson sincerely apologized for what they went through. He was not the warden during the officers harassment at the prison.
The officer says they were given three options to leave. Medical retirement, quitting, or be fired.
“I sent my exit letter to the higher ups thinking that somebody would do something,” they said. “It will come down the line, someone will say something to stop that stuff in there, but obviously it didn’t.”
The officer took the medical retirement leave, but said they wished the harassment could have been dealt with instead of feeling like they were forced to leave.
“It’s never dealt with in there,” they said. “Nobody’s getting in trouble when they see that somebody’s being made fun of. There are the people who react and there’s the people who stand by and watch, and then there’s the people who will do something. But the people who would do something are few and far between,” they said. “So you suck it up.”
According to this officer, mistakes made on a correctional officer’s watch was often criticized instead of a learning opportunity.
“They look at it as an opportunity to demean everything about you,” they alleged. “They don’t make it just about work. They hit your personal life and they are relentless. It’s the same people who you thought were your friends and respected you as a co-worker. I won’t say everyone because that’s not true, but some of those same people will be the same ones to keep those rumours going.”
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While this officer would have loved to return to the job they loved, instead they were left to deal with the PTSD that came from the harassment.
“I’m just really sad that someone had to lose their life for someone to pay attention,” they said. “They see what’s going on, but they turn their heads.”
Correctional Service of Canada investigating
According to Ducette, CSC has taken her son’s phone, along with others, as part of its investigation. But over a month later, she hasn’t heard a thing.
The Whig-Standard reached out to CSC for comment on the allegations and Gleeson’s death, and in an email, CSC did confirm it is investigating.
“The Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC) top priority is to ensure the safety and security of those who live and work in our institutions and we can confirm that CSC is currently conducting an internal investigation,” the email said. “Please note that CSC employees are expected to act according to legal and ethical standards and are subject to the rules of professional conduct and code of discipline as outlined in the Commissioner’s Directive 060: Code of Discipline. CSC does not tolerate any breach of its policies, and all allegations are thoroughly investigated regardless of the source, with actions taken as appropriate.”
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CSC said it takes allegations of harassment and bullying very seriously and it is working to combat those situations with anti-harassment training.
“CSC is focused on ensuring that its institutions provide a safe, respectful, and healthy environment, conducive to staff safety, inmate rehabilitation, and the protection of the public,” it said. “CSC staff also receive training on the organization’s values where behavioural expectations within CSC and as a public service employee are clearly explained.”
Due to CSC’s privacy regulations, the organization was unable to provide any other additional details regarding the case and the investigation.
The Whig-Standard also reached out to CSC’s Commissioner, Anne Kelly for comment, but did not hear back. According to CSC, she has been in touch with Gleeson’s family.
Harassment is not uncommon
Howard Sapers, a criminal justice policy consultant who held the role of the Correctional Investigator of Canada for 12 years, said he is not in the least surprised to hear about allegations of harassment at Joyceville.
“It’s not uncommon, actually, in my experience and it’s a very difficult working environment,” Sapers said. “There’s lots of stress, there’s lots of tension and that tends to come out in various ways.”
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Sapers referred to the public service employee surveys conducted by the Government of Canada.
In a 2022 annual survey, 27 per cent of correctional workers said they had been victim of harassment while on the job in the past 12 months. That’s up from 24 per cent in 2020.
As for who harassed them, the 2022 survey cited 56 per cent of the time, it was co-workers.
“Correctional service staff report that its a very difficult and troubling in some ways work environment,” Sapers added. “The report never surprises me. It deeply offends me and bothers me because it seems to be persistent.”
Sapers said when dealing with cases involving subjectivity and peoples’ perceptions, a proper and thorough investigation is needed.
“In my own work, I have found that sometimes people dismiss things and they’ll dismiss them all too easily by saying things like, ‘Can’t you take a joke?’ or ‘Boys will be boys.’ These are completely inappropriate and offensive responses,” Sapers said.
While Sapers said this is not a unique situation, it needs to be fixed starting from the top.
“I think not just the Correctional Service of Canada, but any organization that faces persistent concerns being raised about discrimination and harassment, bias, personal safety— I think they need to take them seriously,” Sapers said. “I think they need to do everything in their power to address those issues and would not be comfortable saying that the Correctional Service of Canada is doing everything in its power at this point.”
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He believes changing the culture amongst CSC staff has to start with leadership, and that includes the wardens and managers.
“If you want to overcome negative culture, you have to replace it with positive culture and that starts at the top,” Sapers said. “That’s not just national headquarters at the Correctional Service of Canada, it’s at the top of every level of an organization. So certainly the commissioner’s office, but what about the warden in this specific institution, what about the correctional managers that are assigned to lead these shifts for correctional officers. Leadership in an organization at CSC is defuse and leadership has to fully, at all those levels, embrace those challenges and do something about it.”
Friends and family want justice and closure
While friends and family still can’t believe Brad is gone, they hope his passing brings light to what is happening behind the walls of not just Joyceville Institution, but others as well.
“I just want my son to have closure,” Ducette said, crying, struggling to get her words out. “I want justice for him. It won’t help him, but it could help somebody else. That’s what I want. To get revenge on these people that did this to him, I want their jobs gone.”
I want justice for him
Denise Ducette
Ducette said at times she still thinks her son will walk through the front door, a hopeful thought that is just that— a thought.
“I don’t want Brad to die in vain for all this because he didn’t deserve it,” Ducette said as tears rolled down her face. “He was such a great guy. He just didn’t deserve this…
“I’m hoping other people will come forward and share their experiences at the institution.”
Gleeson would have been 41 years old on April 4.
mkulchar@postmedia.com
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