The human rights complaint against the Cloverdale Rodeo & Exhibition Association has concluded.
A Sept. 22 notice on the website of the law firm that brought the case forward revealed the process had ended in mediation.
“The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal appointed a mediator who met with the named complainants, the Cloverdale Rodeo Association, and the City of Surrey,” noted an entry on the Allevato, Quail & Roy website. “After a full day of mediation, the named complainants are extremely pleased with the mutually agreeable resolution and look forward to putting this matter behind them.”
A human rights complaint was opened in the summer of 2021 after bombshell allegations of sexism and workplace harassment were levelled at the Cloverdale Rodeo Association.
The originally anonymous complaint was filed on behalf of workers and volunteers with the Rodeo Association. Later the City of Surrey was added as respondent.
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Nine months after the complaint was filed, in March of 2022, former rodeo communications contractor Laura Ballance revealed on what was then called Twitter (now X) that she was the “representative complainant” in the human rights complaint.
The Allevato, Quail & Roy entry noted, “The group complaint alleged that the Cloverdale Rodeo and the City of Surrey upheld a hostile and poisoned work environment by failing to respond to race-based, disability-based, and sex-based harassment and discrimination.”
Laura Ballance posted to her personal Facebook page Sept. 23 that agreeing to be the representative complainant was the hardest decision of her professional career.
“Several months ago six brave women got to confront the Association in a mediated session,” Ballance wrote. “It was an incredibly emotional day, and I was so proud to stand with them and say: no more, not in Canada, not in 2023.”
She wrote that mediation resulted in more than she had hoped for. Part of the mediation resulted in the Rodeo Association being required to post an apology on their website for three months.
That apology, in part, reads: “The Lower Fraser Valley Exhibition Association (DBA Cloverdale Rodeo and Exhibition) acknowledges the serious issues raised in a recent Human Rights Tribunal complaint. The Association recognizes those concerns and sincerely regrets any negative experiences anyone affiliated with the Association endured.” (Read full text of the apology on cloverdalerodeo.com.)
Kathy Shepherd, Rodeo Association president, could not be reached for comment by publication time.
Gerry Spielmacher, Rodeo Association past president, said he couldn’t comment on anything about the mediated resolution.
“Both sides are okay with the settlement,” Spielmacher said. “That’s all we’re allowed to say.”
