Ontario’s Education Minister says his office will be conducting a review of the circumstances leading up to the suicide of a principal who alleged he was accused of being a white supremacist and bullied following a series of diversity training sessions.
Minister Stephen Lecce said in a statement on July 24 that he has asked his staff to review what happened, “and bring me options to reform professional training and strengthen accountability on school boards so this never happens again.”
During the session, Ms. Ojo-Thompson argued that Canada is a more racist place than the United States, that it is a “bastion of white supremacy and colonialism,” and that capitalism and the patriarchy are killing people, according to the court document.
When Mr. Bilszto defended Canada, citing the equality of its public health care and education systems, Ms. Ojo-Thompson said the comments were an example of “resistance” that upholds white supremacy, and that his reference to “facts” was an attempt to derail the conversation and discredit her words. She also encouraged the other educators to push back when they see others being “accosted by white supremacy.”
“Bilkszto left the training session feeling humiliated, attacked, unsupported, harassed and alone. He suffered mental distress as a result,” the statement of claim reads.
‘Serious and Disturbing Allegations’
Mr. Lecce said in the statement the allegations involving the DEI workshop were “serious and disturbing.”“No staff member should ever be subject to harassment while in their place of work,” Mr. Lecce said. He added that the incident underscored the need for “greater accountability of school boards and the necessity to ensure professional training is free from harassment and intimidation.”
Mr. Bilkszto went on sick leave for six weeks, but when he returned to TDSB he was not reinstated to his former position along with an additional contract for a principal term being revoked. For the alleged defamation and breaches of his contract, he was seeking $785,000 in damages.
In an email to The Epoch Times on July 21, Ms. Bildy stated, “The Claim was issued, but not served on the TDSB (although they were provided with an early draft for discussion), so they have not filed a defence as yet. It will be up to Mr. Bilkszto’s estate as to whether the legal action will continue.”
A mental stress injury claim was also filed with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) in May 2021, citing workplace harassment. The WSIB decision ruled in his favour and Mr. Bilszto was advised by letter dated August 16, 2021, that he was awarded almost two months of lost earnings in a ruling that described Ms. Ojo-Thompson’s behaviour during the training sessions as “abusive, egregious and vexatious.”
In a statement on July 23, the KOJO Institute disputed the lawsuit’s description of the training sessions as “inaccurate and incomplete,“ claiming all interactions with individuals throughout the training sessions, including Mr. Bilkszto, were ”brief.”
