Creepy Uncle

 CBM provided round-trip bus transportation for attendees from its Langley office to the restaurant in Vancouver. CBM intended that attendees sit one person per row on the bus to maintain social distancing. The Event provided an open bar for attendees.

 

With an associate attorney

 

In 2018, A was employed by CBM as an articling student. From the date of her call to the bar to October 19, 2020, A was employed by CBM as an associate lawyer. In approximately January 2019, the Respondent began to act as a mentor to A.

(a)        During the bus ride to the Event, the Respondent complimented A on her sunglasses and the colour of her lipstick.

(b)        During the Event, the Respondent performed what he called a “creepy uncle” routine, which involved him peering from around a corner, staring with a “creepy” expression on his face. The Respondent had done the “creepy uncle” routine before. It was a “thing he does.”

(c)        The Respondent performed the “creepy uncle” routine both inside and outside the restaurant while photos were being taken.

(d)        During dinner, the Respondent appeared approximately four times at A’s table as a “creepy uncle.”

(e)        The Respondent felt that the “creepy uncle” routine was a joke and that it was humorous. He felt it was a routine intended to be a parody of an uncle who behaved strangely, but not in a sexually suggestive manner.

(f)         Several times during the Event, while at the restaurant, the Respondent stood close to A and put his hands on the back of her chair.

(g)        After eating dinner, A stated that she had become bloated from dietary issues. The Respondent heard A say that she was pregnant with a “food baby” and responded “Oh, don’t you do this to me.”

(h)        A began visiting tables of her colleagues and making jokes about the “food baby.” After she visited several tables, the Respondent joined in and joked that the “baby” was his baby.

(i)         The Respondent does not dispute or deny that at one point during the Event, he held A close, by the arm, and touched her stomach with his other hand as part of the joke about the “food baby.”

(j)         The Respondent does not dispute or deny that he pulled A aside and told her that all jokes aside, he thought they would make a really good baby together, that he would take care of A and that she would not have to worry about anything. The Respondent told A he thought that with her eyes they would make a really good baby together.

(k)        On the return bus trip to Langley, the Respondent had a container of alcohol in his jacket pocket. He consumed more alcohol.

(l)         For part of the return bus trip, the Respondent sat next to A. The Respondent told A that she had been “ballsy” to ask for a raise and that his law partner had been mad at her for doing so. The Respondent talked to A about the stress of being a partner and how the firm was not making money during the pandemic. The Respondent talked to A about another lawyer’s billable hours and how that lawyer had not been pulling their weight. The Respondent also talked about how someone had asked for a raise when they did not deserve one. During this conversation, the Respondent also told A that she had a bright future at the firm.