Women sue N.W.T. mine for discrimination

Two women who say they suffered harassment and gender discrimination while training to work at the Ekati diamond mine in the Northwest Territories have launched a $10-million lawsuit against the mine owners and their trainers.

Diane Taylor and Laura Lorenzen have named BHP Billiton, Procon Mining and Tunnelling, and the N.W.T. Mine Training Society in their civil suit, which was filed with the N.W.T. Supreme Court late last month.

In their statement of claim, the women say they were hired in October 2007 to train as underground miners under the Procon-KeteWhii Joint Venture, which was funded by the Mine Training Society. Procon had a contract with the Ekati mine at the time of the training.

Taylor, who was training to drive a haul truck, told CBC News she and Lorenzen endured regular harassment from the predominantly male training group while they were at the mine site.

"It's like, 'You're [an] underground miner. Suck it up,'" Taylor said in an interview.

"I know that this should never have happened, and it should never happen to another female underground trainee."

Taylor and Lorenzen were the only women in the six-person training group at Ekati, and say they were segregated and harassed because of their gender, according to their statement of claim.

Taylor has also alleged that she was physically assaulted by a male co-worker.

Few toilet facilities for women

The women claim they were not given safety gear that fit them properly, and they were deprived of access to a toilet because washroom facilities were few and far between at the site.

Taylor said the male miners would simply urinate inside the underground tunnels, while supervisors told her and Lorenzen they had to wait.

"I held myself for … five, six hours? Four hours? And I'm sitting there and I coughed, and it's running down my leg. There's nowhere for me to clean myself up," she said.

"There's no toilet, no one's bringing us a vehicle, and I'm sitting there in misery, and I'm cold, and I'm sick. And, like, that's inhumane."

Both women left Ekati in January 2008 say they have been unable to work since then.

A subsequent investigation by Procon led to a supervisor being fired, but the women said they not are satisfied with the company's response to their complaint.

Taylor and Lorenzen are each seeking $5 million in compensation, as well as a disability pension.

The defendants named in the lawsuit have yet to file their statements of defence.

Officials with BHP Billiton have refused to comment.

Officials with the mine training society told CBC News the case has prompted them to be more actively involved with the mine trainees that they sponsor.

In addition to the lawsuit, Taylor and Lorenzen said they've also filed a complaint with the N.W.T. Human Rights Commission.