Liberal Party of B.C. leadership hopeful Kevin Falcon has fired a campaign worker after allegations that the man subjected a female campaign worker to a barrage of hateful, profanity-laden insults on Oct. 29.
“The incident included sexual comments from an individual, sexually-suggestive jokes about me from another individual, which I called out and defended myself heartily in response to,” Diamond Isinger tweeted. “At the worst point, I was berated with misogynistic slurs and profane insults while being yelled at for 15+ minutes.”
Isinger, campaign manager for leadership hopeful Michael Lee, said the incident took place in a busy public place.
She said she was called “a f***king bitch,” an “uptight bitch” and a f***king c**t.”
She said she burst into tears at one point. Further, she said he accused her of ruining their evening (the group consisted of five men, according to Isinger), with implications she had done so by not tolerating the remarks.
“He insisted I shake his hand to reconcile with him between these outbursts and when I declined to do so, he berated me again.”
Isinger said as of Friday her concerns were being dismissed, leading to her going public.
“I am deeply concerned that this conduct is being tolerated,” she said. “There is a dangerous culture of bad behaviour amongst individuals (mostly men) who have no fear of repercussions.”
Falcon issued a statement Nov. 1 apologizing for the behaviour of members of his campaign team.
“We’ve since spoken to that member, and based on the conversation, there was sufficient acknowledgement of Diamond’s account and I have ended the relationship between him and my campaign team,” Falcon said.
The former cabinet minister called the incident “reprehensible and wrong.”
“I am truly disturbed and disappointed by the actions of those involved,” Falcon said. “These incidents are unfortunately all too common and I commend Diamond for speaking up on behalf of herself and all the women who have experienced these encounters.
“I hope that we can work together to ensure that women never have to be subjected to this type of toxic behaviour ever again,” Falcon said, adding he'll be asking his co-chair to retain third-party legal counsel "to understand the full details of the incident."
Former Liberal leader and premier Christy Clark tweeted her support for Isinger.
“I'm so sorry this happened to you,” Clark tweeted. “By speaking out, you are helping to make change. I know many of us are utterly disgusted by what you describe but also heartened by your decision to make it public. We know it could just as easily have been any of us. Thanks for your courage.”
