School board trustee Nili Kaplan-Myrth files human rights complaint against OCDSB

Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth is pictured in Ottawa on Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

School board trustee Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth has filed a human rights complaint against the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and her fellow board members.

In a complaint filed to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, Dr. Kaplan-Myrth alleges she has been subjected to antisemitic treatment online and in-person because of her role as an advocate for LGBTQIA+ rights and public health policies, including mask mandates, which has attracted protests at board meetings.

Dr. Kaplan-Myrth says the board failed to address her complaints, despite multiple attempts to raise the problem with trustees and senior staff. She is Jewish and the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors.

The respondents addressed in the complaint are not addressed by name but refer collectively to the trustees and senior staff in the OCDSB.

"Rather than address Dr. Kaplan-Myrth's concerns promptly and with the requisite level of seriousness given the nature of the anti-Semitic incidents, the Respondents dismissed the gravity of the situation and subjected her to differential," the complaint said.

"In some cases, the Respondents ignored or dismissed the anti-Semitic incidents which compromised Dr. Kaplan-Myrth's dignity and safety. The Respondents failed to take proactive steps to address her concerns or take them seriously,"

The complaint alleges the OCDSB dismissed the antisemitic incidents "because they failed to view antisemitism as a serious issue requiring protection."

In one example, she says she attempted to make phone calls and even met with trustees, the director and senior team of the OCDSB to discuss the incidents against her. She claims the members attempted to "silence" her and "weaponized" Code of Conduct complaints against her as a reprisal for her speaking out.

The complaint says she was also approached in public and received phone calls to both her OCDSB and medical clinic phone with similar vulgar, offensive and threatening anti-Semitic messages.

Based on the complaints, Kaplan-Myrth is seeking compensation and remedies for the actions by the board.

They include compensation of $50,000, mandatory anti-hate and antisemitism training on an annual basis and an order requiring revision to the OCDSB Code of Conduct to adopt more fulsome anti-hate and antisemitism protections.

A statement by OCDSB spokesperson Darcy Knoll said the board is reviewing the application and will follow the process established by the tribunal for responding.

"The OCDSB's strong commitment to human rights is clearly outlined in our Human Rights Policy. In schools, administrative offices and in the boardroom, we work hard to uphold those rights," Knoll said in an emailed statement.

Kaplan-Myrth has been outspoken on social media and has elicited controversy since she was elected in last year's municipal election.

In November 2022, she introduced a motion urging for mandatory mask mandates in schools, attracting controversy from parents for her activities on social media and for allegedly intimidating other trustees into voting for the motion. The vote for the mandate did not ultimately pass.

In September, she was subject to a vote of a potential breach of conduct where, Donna Dickson, a black trustee, alleged she was subject to "extremely insensitive, insulting and disrespectful" text messages by Kaplan-Myrth after she was told not to "vote with white supremacists" for opposing the vote on the mask mandate.

Trustees held a special meeting to decide whether text messages Kaplan-Myrth sent to Dickson amounted to a breach of the board's Code of Conduct. The investigator into the case, Michael Maynard, did not make any recommendations in his report concerning the breach.

The vote failed by a slim margin, with seven trustees voting in favour and four choosing to abstain. The motion needed eight supporters to pass. Kaplan-Myrth did not vote, per board rules.

The Board of Trustees will be meeting on Dec. 19 which will include a report from the Integrity Commissioner regarding the Code of Conduct.