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Policy Statement
The Rural Municipality of Reynolds (the "Municipality") aims to provide exemplary
services to all members of the public and to address service requests and complaints
equitably, comprehensively and in a timely manner, while promoting a respectful, tolerant
and harassment-free workplace between Members of Council, officers and employees of
the Municipality, and the public. In order to achieve these objectives, unreasonable
behaviour and/or frivolous and vexatious complaints or requests from some members of
the public who require services or access Municipality premises may need to be limited
in a manner that is clear, consistent, reasonable, and proportional to the individual's
action(s).
Purpose
This policy contributes to the Municipality's objective of dealing with all residents in ways
that are consistent and fair while acknowledging that there may be a need to protect staff,
Members of Council and residents of the Rural Municipality of Reynolds from
unreasonable behaviour and frivolous and/or vexatious and/or threatening actions.
Some situations arising from unreasonable behaviour may cause concern for the
reasonable safety of other individuals on municipal premises. Other situations may
compromise the enjoyment of municipal facilities for all users. Vexatious, frivolous and/or
unreasonably persistent requests may consume a disproportionate amount of Council
and/or staff time and resources and can compromise their ability to provide assistance or
deliver good service efficiently and effectively. Such requests may also impede staff from
attending to other essential issues. These situations and requests may require the
Municipality to put restrictions on the contact that some individuals have with the
Municipality.
This policy is not intended to deal with generally difficult ratepayers and individuals. It
applies to members of the public whose behaviours and actions are unreasonable,
frivolous and/or vexatious and/or threatening. Determining whether particular behaviours
or actions are unreasonable, frivolous or vexatious or threatening can be a flexible
balancing exercise that requires all circumstances of a particular case to be taken into
Policy No. 61
Title: Public Conduct Policy
RM OF REYNOLDS
account. In many cases, the key question is whether the behaviours or actions are likely
to cause distress, disruption or irritation, without proper or justified cause.
The decision to classify someone's behaviour as unreasonable, or to classify a request
as vexatious or frivolous or threatening, could have serious consequences for the
individual, including restricting their access to Council, municipal staff, services and/or
property. As such, this policy provides clear examples of behaviours and actions, as well
as clear steps for staff to follow. Any restrictions made under this policy are dependent
on particular circumstances, and there is an opportunity for the affected individual to have
any restrictions reviewed and/or appealed.
Application
This policy is to be implemented if behaviours or requests from an individual are
determined to be unreasonable, frivolous and/or vexatious and/or threatening as defined
herein. The following behaviours or requests may take place in circumstances including,
but not limited to, one or more of the following:
- Public meetings;
- Written communication;
- Telephone communication;
- In-person communication;
- Electronic communication, including email and social media; and/or
- Interactions at municipal property, parks or facilities.
Examples of Unreasonable Behaviour
Examples of what might be considered unreasonable behaviour are shown below. The
list is not exhaustive, nor does one single feature on its own necessarily imply that the
person will be considered as being in this category:
- Refusing to specify the grounds of a complaint, despite offers of assistance;
- Changing the basis of the complaint/request as the matter proceeds;
- Denying or changing statements made at an earlier stage;
- Covertly recording meetings and conversations;
- Submitting falsified documents from themselves or others;
- Making excessive demands on the time and resources of staff with lengthy phone
calls, emails to numerous staff, or detailed letters every few days, and expecting
immediate responses;
- Refusing to accept the decision/repeatedly arguing points with no new evidence;
- Persistently approaching the Municipality through different routes about the same
issue;
- Causing distress to staff, which could include use of hostile, abusive or offensive
language, or an unreasonable fixation on an individual member of staff;
- Making unjustified complaints about staff who are trying to deal with the issues,
and seeking to have the staff member terminated or disciplined;
- Engaging in aggressive, disrespectful or intimidating or threatening behaviour,
bullying, harassment or using coarse language while accessing a municipal
meeting, hearing, program, service, program, event or facility (including
communications to any municipal staff); and/or
- Loitering, causing a disturbance or acting under the influence of drugs and alcohol
while attending municipal premises.
Examples of Vexatious or Frivolous or Threatening Requests
Examples of what might be considered to be vexatious or frivolous or threatening are
provided below. The list is not exhaustive, and for a request to be considered as vexatious
or frivolous or threatening it is likely that more than one of the examples is relevant:
- Submission of obsessive requests with very high volume and frequency of
correspondence;
- Requests for information the requester has already seen, or clear intention to
reopen issues that have already been considered;
- Where complying with the request would impose significant burden on the
Municipality in terms of expense, and negatively impact the ability to provide
service to others;
- Where the requester states that the request is actually meant to cause maximum
inconvenience, disruption or annoyance;
- Where the request lacks any serious purpose or value. An apparent lack of value
would not usually be enough on its own to make a request vexatious, but may
when considered with other examples; and/or
- Harassing the Municipality, which could include very high volume and frequency
of correspondence, or mingling requests with accusations and complaints.
Furthermore, a pattern of conduct occurs when on several occasions an individual
engages in one or more of the following:
- Brings complaints concerning an issues that staff have already investigated and
concluded;
- Brings complaints concerning an issue that is substantially similar to an issue that
staff have previously investigated and concluded and no new information is being
introduced; and/or
- Engages in unreasonable conduct which is abusive of the request for services or
complaints process, including but not limited to the examples set out under the
Application section of this policy.
This policy is meant to complement, not replace, the Respectful Workplace Policy, the
Employee Code of Conduct and the Code of Conduct for Members of Council.
Policy Requirements
The decision to classify someone's behaviour as unreasonable, or to classify a request
or complaint as frivolous and vexatious or threatening, could have serious consequences
for the individual, including restricting his or her access to municipal services and staff.
The decision may be as a result of a repeated pattern of conduct when, on several
occasions, a person engages in one or more behaviours or actions identified as
unreasonable, frivolous and/or vexatious and/or threatening, or it may be a single
significant incident that requires invocation of this policy.
If an incident presents an immediate threat, contact 9-1-1.
Responsibilities
All users of this policy are required to document the actions of the individual, and their
own actions, in as much detail as possible.
For situations involving unreasonable behaviour, as well as those circumstances that
involve frivolous and vexatious requests or threatening behavior, specific responsibilities
include as follows:
a) Employees
- If a staff member experiences or witnesses any incident or behaviour that makes
the staff member uncomfortable or unsafe, the staff member should report the
matter to the CAO, providing any supporting material;
- If a staff member believes that a request or a complaint is unreasonable, frivolous
or vexatious or threatening, the staff member should consult with the Chief
Administrative Officer ("CAO") providing any supporting material.
- Staff are responsible for advising the CAO of the steps that have been taken to
resolve the issue, which may include the following:
Length of time that staff have been in contact with the individual and the history
of interactions;
Amount of correspondence that has been exchanged with the individual;
Number of requests that the individual has brought and the status of each;
Nature of the individual's behaviour and the approximate amount of time that
has been consumed; and
Maintaining detailed records of staff interactions with individuals in order to
justify any actions taken to restrict the individual's access to staff or services.
b) Chief Administrative Officer (CAO)
- Review the information provided by staff and determine if the individual's behaviour
warrants the application of restriction(s); File a complaint, in the same form as staff,
and determine if the individual's behaviour warrants the application of restriction(s);
- Make the determination to classify an individual's behaviour as unreasonable or to
classify a request as frivolous and/or vexatious and/or threatening;
- Determine a proposed review date for removing, modifying or continuing the
restriction(s);
- Determine the restriction(s) to be imposed on the individual and communicate
these restrictions to the individual;
- Maintain all documentation related to the review and determination of restriction(s);
- Conduct reviews of any restriction(s) and communicate the outcome to the
individual; and
- Review the policy every two years through the Municipality's regular governance
reviews.
c) Members of Council
- Consult with the Chief Administrative Officer and/or municipal solicitor regarding
cases of unreasonable behaviour and/or frivolous and vexatious or threatening
action that the Member wishes to address, as described in this policy. Upon being
consulted by a Member of Council, the Chief Administrative Officer and/or the
municipal solicitor shall provide advice to the Member respecting any proposed
action under this policy.
d) Council
- When an appeal of a restriction is received by the CAO in accordance with this
Policy, Council shall appoint an Appeal Committee to decide the appeal consisting
of no less than two (2) members of council. The Appeal Committee shall not
include any staff involved in the report giving rise to the restrictions.
e) Appeal Committee
- Review any appeals and confirm, rescind or amend the restrictions.
Monitoring/Contraventions
Course of Action
1. Information Review: A review shall be conducted by the CAO to determine if an
individual's behaviour warrants the application of restriction. Each case should be
considered on an individual basis. This determination, or any restrictions, shall
consider the specific circumstances of the matter as well as the following:
a. The individual's personal circumstances, level of competency, literary skills, etc.
that may be known to staff;
b. If applicable, whether the request or complaint has been dealt with properly and in
line with the relevant procedures and statutory guidelines;
c. If applicable, whether staff have made reasonable efforts to satisfy or resolve the
request or complaint;
d. If applicable, whether the individual is presenting new material or information about
the situation or making a new request or complaint.
2. Notice: Upon determination that an individual's behaviour is unreasonable or
threatening or to classify a request or complaint as frivolous or vexatious, and
depending on the severity of the incident, the CAO shall:
a. Send a letter of warning to the individual indicating that the behaviour/requests are
a violation of this policy and that restrictions may be imposed should they continue; or
b. Send a letter of notification to the individual indicating that the matter has been
reviewed and that restrictions are to be imposed. This letter shall include a summary of
the findings of the CAO's review, including as follows:
i.
a summary of the matter which has led to the restrictions;
ii.
a
summary
of
the
interactions
with
the
individual;
iii.
a description of the restrictions that are to be applied; and
iv.
the rationale for applying the restrictions.
3. Potential Restrictions: Restrictions should be tailored to deal with the individual
circumstances. Actions available to the CAO to restrict the individual may include,
but are not limited, to any one or combination of the following:
a. Limiting the individual's correspondence with staff to a particular format, time or
duration;
b. Limiting the individual to a particular point of contact;
c. Requiring any face-to-face interactions between the individual and staff to take
place in the presence of another staff member;
d. Requiring the individual to make contact with the Municipality only through a third
party, such as a solicitor or counsellor;
e. Limiting or regulating the individual's use of municipal services;
f. Refusing the individual access to a municipal facility except by appointment or
specific permission;
g. Requiring that the individual produce full disclosure of documentation or
information before staff will further investigate a complaint;
h. Instructing staff not to respond to further correspondence from the individual
regarding the complaint or a substantially similar issue;
i. Informing the individual that further contact on the matter will not be acknowledged
or replied to;
j. Closing the complaint or request for service;
k. Instructing staff not to investigate any complaints regarding an issue that has
already been investigated or which is substantially similar to an issue that has already
been investigated;
l. Instructing staff to severely reduce or completely cease responses to further
complaints or request and correspondence from the individual;
m. Pursuing legal action ; and
n. Any other measures deemed necessary, based on the individual circumstances.
4. Restriction Review: The letter of notification shall advise of a review date for the
matter, depending on the severity of the incident and the nature of the matter and
restriction/service provided. Generally, all cases where this policy is applied should
be reviewed every twelve months and not more than 12 months after the service
change or restriction was initially imposed or continued/upheld.
The affected individual will be invited to participate in the review process by providing a
written submission or by way of another method as appropriate in the circumstances,
unless it is determined that this invitation will provoke a negative response from the
individual.
Prior to the review date, the CAO shall review the situation and determine if the
restrictions should continue. During this review, consideration shall be given to factors
such as:
Whether the individual has had any contact with the Municipality during the
restriction period;
The individual's conduct during the restriction period;
Any information/arguments put forward by the individual for review;
The effect that continuing the restriction may have on the individual; and
Any other information that may be relevant in the circumstances.
The individual shall be informed of the outcome of the review by way of letter within 10
business days of completion of the review and be given another date for review if any
restrictions remain.
Appeals
1. The individual shall have the ability to appeal any decision to impose restrictions
by contacting the Chief Administrative Officer in writing within 10 business days
from the date the restriction was issued. Upon receipt of an appeal, Council shall
appoint an Appeal Committee in accordance with this Policy, who shall review all
relevant information along with the appeal within 10 business days from the date
the appeal was received and may confirm, rescind or amend the restrictions. The
Appeal Committee's decision will be final.
2. In the event that the issue cannot be resolved through this policy, the individual
may submit a complaint to the Office of the Manitoba Ombudsman.
Monitoring
This policy shall be reviewed every two years by the Chief Administrative Officer as part
of the Municipality's regular Governance Review process.
References
Code of Conduct for Members of Council
Employee Code of Conduct
Definitions
"Vexatious" means that the complaint or request for service is initiated with the intent to
embarrass or annoy the receipt, or is part of a pattern of conduct by the complaint of
requestor that amounts to an abuse of the complaint process or request for service.
A "frivolous" complaint is one that has no serious purpose or value, about a matter so
trivial or one so meritless on its face that investigation would be disproportionate in terms
of time and cost.
"Unreasonable" behaviour involves conduct that is unacceptable in all circumstances -
regardless of how stressed, angry or frustrated an individual is, because it unacceptably
comprises the health, safety and security of staff, other service users or the individual
themselves. Further, requests or complaints that are incomprehensible, inflammatory or
based on conspiracy theories are also considered unreasonable.
"Threatening" behaviour refers to any conduct involving direct or indirect threats, including
verbal intimidation, physical aggression, actions that cause fear or unease, threats of
retaliation, public embarrassment or humiliation, vandalism, or any communication or act
that leads another individual to fear for their safety or well-being..
Enquiries
Kim Furgala, Chief Administrative Officer
Rural Municipality of Reynolds
Box 46, Hadashville, MB R0E 0X0
204-426-5305
[email protected]
______________________________________________________________________
Implementation Date: June 24, 2025 Resolution: 25/215