
BROCKVILLE – Two Leeds County O.P.P. officers have each filed a human rights complaint against their employer.
Const. Jason Redmond of Lynn and Const. David Vogelzang of Elizabethtown have filed separate complaints with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.
They allege the O.P.P. has failed to address and accommodate their workplace disability, specifically post traumatic stress disorder, related to experiences while carrying out their work.
Both officers were caught in a drug operation dubbed Project Arrowtown in November 2015.
In a media release, their lawyers – Lawrence Greenspon and Tina Hill – detailed how Redmond had developed a marijuana addiction to cope with his PTSD and suicidal tendencies and when he asked the O.P.P. for help they put him under surveillance.
“He was asking for help,” the lawyers wrote.
Redmond was charged with obstruction of justice, marijuana trafficking, forgery and breach of trust. He received a suspended sentence on the forgery and a conditional discharge on the drug charge.
Volgelzang was charged with obstruction of justice in the 2015 sting. He was acquitted.
Both officers, still facing Police Service Act charges, are still off work to this day.
In their complaints, both officers are seeking policy changes that will benefit all O.P.P. officers, as well as “other remedies specific to their own situation.” Those policy changes would deal with discrimination and harassment of those with mental health issues and also suspending Police Service Act matters where medical evidence of a physiological disability exists.
None of the allegations against the O.P.P. have been proven in court.