Sexual harassment allegations against international terrorism prosecutor do not warrant formal discipline: LSO
Complaint concerned Toronto-based Graeme Cameron’s spell as a prosecutor at the U.N.’s Special Tribunal for Lebanon
An international terrorism prosecutor has avoided formal disciplinary action after the Law Society of Ontario concluded allegations of sexual harassment and incivility towards staff members at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon were adequately addressed by a regulatory meeting.
Graeme Cameron was a senior figure in the province’s Crown Law Office before taking up his post with the tribunal in 2013, established by the United Nations at The Hague, Netherlands, to prosecute those responsible for the assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. A further 21 people were also killed in the 2005 bombing in Beirut.
Before his resignation from the STL, effective October 2016, Cameron led a team of prosecutors presenting a circumstantial case against five accused members of Hezbollah.
However, according to a notice published by the LSO, Cameron recently faced allegations that he breached the regulator’s Rules of Professional Conduct in interactions with tribunal staff members; specifically r. 6.3-3, which prohibits sexual harassment of colleagues, staff members, clients “or any other person,” and r.7.2-1, which directs lawyers to be courteous, civil and act in good faith with anyone they deal with in the course of their practice.
But following a regulatory meeting between Cameron and several LSO benchers, the regulator’s proceedings authorization committee decided no further action was necessary.
“The Lawyer acknowledged the conduct and took responsibility for his actions and the pain he caused the specific staff members. The Lawyer was reminded not to engage in such unbecoming and unprofessional conduct. His conduct was antithetical to the responsibilities set out in the Rules of Professional Conduct,” reads a LSO notice of the March 23 meeting. “The members of the Proceedings Authorization Committee agreed that the discussion was useful, and that the Lawyer is unlikely to conduct himself similarly in the future. The members of the Proceedings Authorization Committee concluded that having addressed the regulatory issues, there will be no further action regarding this matter.
In a statement, LSO spokesperson Jennifer Wing explained that regulatory meetings can be authorized where a licensee’s conduct “must be addressed but formal discipline proceedings are not warranted.”
“The Law Society of Ontario considers multiple factors in determining how to address a licensee’s conduct, including the nature and impact of the alleged conduct and the licensee’s regulatory history,” Wing added. “A Regulatory Meeting is considered a serious and public regulatory response and is intended to educate licensees, create accountability, and to address harm. Licensees must voluntarily participate and the facts should generally be agreed, although there may exist differing interpretations.”
According to details provided by the LSO, the sexual harassment allegations arose out of Cameron’s interactions with a female lawyer who he recruited to the STL’s prosecution team.
The pair met outside work a number of times between December 2015 and February 2016, including for shared dinners together. On one occasion, the LSO summary says Cameron expressed his fondness for the female lawyer. After a hug at the end of the dinner, she believed he was going to kiss her on the lips, and turned her head so that he kissed the side of her face.
“Mr. Cameron indicated to the Law Society that he did not intend the kiss to be a prelude to anything but accepted the gesture was capable of that interpretation, and he expressed regret for the interaction and the discomfort it caused,” the summary continues.
In February 2016, when Cameron asked the female lawyer to be transparent with him, she told him she was with someone else and did not have feelings for him. She also said she did not want further meetings outside the office, and Cameron agreed.
But when the female lawyer went on sick leave in July 2016, she told Cameron that he was the reason and that she planned to complain about him.
“With respect to the sexual harassment, the Lawyer was reminded that, as a person in a position of authority, his conduct, including dinners, and other expressions of his feelings, would lead a reasonable person to expect that his conduct would cause ‘insecurity, discomfort, offence, or humiliation,’ contrary to Rule 6.3-3. The Lawyer’s conduct deeply and negatively impacted the health of the staff member who was sexually harassed,” reads the regulatory meeting notice.
According to the LSO, allegations that Cameron failed to act with courtesy and civility had their roots in incidents with several colleagues over a period of months.
“Mr. Cameron was short-tempered and sometimes engaged angrily with members of staff, including being critical of colleagues and pointed and biting about mistakes, yelling at others, and hitting a wall or his desk in frustration and anger,” the LSO summary says.
“Cameron advised the Law Society that his behavior occurred when his work at the STL was intense and he was physically and mentally exhausted,” it continues.
For more than half of his 23-year stint at the Crown Law Office, Cameron served as deputy director of the its criminal division, handling a wide variety of cases, including complex white-collar frauds, organized crime and public corruption prosecutions, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Highlights included the contested fraud trials of principals of the Seaway Trust Company, as well as those implicated in an investigation into a billion-dollar tobacco smuggling operation between Canada and the U.S.
According to a Globe and Mail report, Cameron’s extensive Canadian experience helped him land a gig with the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service in the mid-2000s, reviewing the available evidence concerning the notorious 1984 murder of Yvonne Fletcher, a police officer killed while on guard at the Libyan embassy in London during a protest. Nobody has ever been charged in the killing, but an inquest concluded the fatal shot was fired from within the embassy.
Neither Cameron nor his lawyer responded to a request for comment for this story.
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