by MacKenzie MacDonald
The Students General Association Chief Operating Officer, Amanda Lachapelle, is speaking openly about a hostile work environment for staff since the election of the SGA’s new executive team.
“I can confirm that there [has] been a significant shift in our office in the last four months” Lachapelle said.
Lachapelle made the comments after the SGA board meeting on June 25.
“It [has] been said by various individuals that [Tommi-Lee Gauthier, SGA president,] does not want me in this position, that she doesn’t think the other staff are good at their jobs at the SGA, and [she] has questioned the need to even keep certain staff in their respective positions.”
Lachapelle has worked as the COO for the SGA for the last two years. She handles “a variety of student service provisions [such as] manag[ing] the sales, staffing and interactions of the the V-Desk and provides front line support while managing the overall operations of the association.”
“I for one have not felt comfortable, safe, nor productive in our office environment” she said.
‘I feel as though I am being targeted’
Lachapelle stated that she was approached on June 21 by a student leader who had informed her that Gauthier had “asked her how to get rid of an executive director that isn’t performing properly”.
“This student asked her why and the answer was because she wanted to get rid of me and wanted advice [on how to do this]” said Lachapelle.
“This was incredibly disappointing [to me] and [the student leader] thought this was very much out of line”.
Lachapelle said that she goes out of her way to consistently ask questions regarding her performance in the office to not only Gauthier, but to the other executives and all SGA staff members.
“I can’t fix my abilities if I’m not made aware of what I’m doing or if I’m doing anything wrong” she said.
“The response I’ve received is nothing other than positive. The one time I was ever approached to address a concern was a few weeks ago from the executive in which I reported [the concern] in our HR report”.
“Rather than having a conversation about the concerns, there was an attempt to reprimand me” Lachapelle said. “I feel as though I am being targeted.”
Like ‘walking on eggshells’
Lachapelle said that working in the SGA office since the election of the new executive team has been like “walking on eggshells”.
“I’m especially anxious lately as I come into work. [I’m constantly] wondering if there is going to be something that I forgot to do, did not do properly, or said that will warrant a dismissal”.
“I do not work well in this type of environment and I can honestly say [that] I don’t foresee myself working like this for much longer”.
Lachapelle posed the concern to the SGA board in the hopes that a third party consultation process would be invoked to help settle this issue.
“I’m addressing this today because we cannot go on like this. It is an unhealthy environment for everybody in our office”.
“Trying to stay positive, trying to foster open communication, or simply trying to forget about these comments are not going to make things any better. It hasn’t even been three months and the environment in our office has taken a significant decline and everyone has been deeply affected”.
“I’m looking for suggestions from everybody here at [the] board” Lachapelle said.
SGA operating within constitution, president says
Lachapelle explained that the current state of the SGA office has made her question whether this is an association she should be working for.
When asked to comment, Gauthier said that an HR committee was assembled at the request of the SGA board of directors. A meeting was held between Lachapelle and herself to improve the relationship and ensure the workplace was a more comfortable space for everyone going forward.
Gauthier said in a message to Lambda that “the decisions the executive has made and the [concerns] the [COO] mentions had the support of at least 2/3 of the executive.”
“We’ve been doing nothing but our job and ensuring that the SGA/AGÉ is operating within the constitution (with the exception of the extension of the regular board into the summer) and their ratified policies since we started”.