Pantsing was sexual harrassment, says Yukon motel worker

Peter Budge says that nearly every day for five months in 2014, while he was working as a chef at the Talbot Arm Motel, Charles Eikland would sneak up behind him and pull down his pants.

The 54-year-old told his story at a hearing before a Yukon Human Rights Panel of Adjudicators in Whitehorse this week.

In July 2015, Budge filed a workplace sexual harassment complaint with the Yukon Human Rights Commission against Eikland and the Talbot Arm Motel in Destruction Bay. Eikland co-owns the motel with Suzanne Tremblay.

After a number of delays, the three-person Panel of Adjudicators — an independent tribunal — began hearing evidence from the commission on Monday in Whitehorse.

Eikland is representing himself. Tremblay is representing the motel. They deny the allegations.

During his direct testimony, Budge told the tribunal he would yell and swear at Eikland every time Eikland pulled down his pants. He said Tremblay would have to come over and break up the argument.

Budge testified he was abused as a child and is not comfortable being touched.

He said the incidents at the Talbot Arm occurred while he was recovering from a car accident that left him with serious injuries to his chest and the left side of his body. His bones were "shattered," he said, and he described the pain of having to twist and grab his pants each time Eikland would sneak up on him.

Budge said he explained his childhood trauma to Eikland and Tremblay twice, but the behaviour continued.

"I was always looking over my shoulder," Budge said at the hearing. "He was just boiling my blood."

Feelings of shame and humiliation

Budge said the final straw was when Eikland pulled down his pants in front of a busload of tourists. He threw a few punches at Eikland and threatened to call the RCMP.

He said the experience left him feeling "disgusting" and dealing with feelings of shame and humiliation to this day.

"Just shame, a lot of shame," he said. "I was abused my whole youth."

During cross-examination, Tremblay questioned every detail of Budge's testimony, from why he left certain jobs in the past, to why he was comfortable roughing around with another man at the motel.

She pressed him on what he was like as an employee at the motel, and whether he admits she took care of him after his accident, buying him clothes and driving him to Whitehorse.

During the hearing on Monday, Tremblay was repeatedly reminded of the rules of the tribunal, and was asked to not offer testimony while questioning a witness.

Tremblay — who is a former adjudicator with the Yukon Human Rights Panel — said she lacked experience, and that the hearing was difficult for her.

​The hearing is scheduled to continue until Friday. The Yukon Human Rights Commission was expected to present testimony from three of Budge's co-workers.

If the tribunal concludes that Eikland and the motel violated Budge's human rights, it can issue an order, which can be filed and enforced by Yukon Supreme Court.