When Your Boss Is the Workplace Bully: Understanding Your Rights in Ontario

Written on behalf of Peter McSherry

Workplace bullying can be particularly difficult to address when the person responsible is also the employee’s supervisor or manager. Employees rely on their supervisors for performance evaluations, scheduling, professional opportunities, and continued employment. When that relationship becomes a source of harassment, employees may feel they have nowhere to turn.

Workplace Bullying Awareness Week, taking place from October 12 to 18, 2026, provides an opportunity to examine the legal protections available to Ontario employees experiencing bullying or harassment at work.

Ontario’s employment and occupational health and safety laws establish important employer obligations concerning workplace harassment, including when the alleged harasser holds a management or leadership position.

When Does a Difficult Boss Become a Workplace Bully?

Not every disagreement with a supervisor constitutes workplace harassment. Managers are generally entitled to assign responsibilities, evaluate performance, provide constructive criticism, and impose appropriate discipline.

However, certain patterns of behaviour may cross the line into workplace harassment, including:

• Repeatedly humiliating or belittling employees;
• Using threatening, insulting, or intimidating language;
• Deliberately isolating employees or excluding them from necessary workplace communications;
• Subjecting employees to persistent ridicule or personal attacks;
• Making unreasonable demands intended to undermine employees; and
• Repeatedly targeting employees with aggressive or hostile communications.

Whether particular conduct constitutes workplace harassment depends on its nature, frequency, and surrounding circumstances.

How Does Ontario Law Define Workplace Harassment?

Under Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA), workplace harassment generally involves a course of vexatious comments or conduct against a worker that is known, or ought reasonably to be known, to be unwelcome. The definition also encompasses workplace sexual harassment and conduct occurring through virtual communications.

Government guidance provides that the OHSA distinguishes harassment from reasonable management actions. Legitimate performance reviews, changes to work assignments, and appropriate disciplinary measures do not automatically constitute harassment simply because an employee finds them unpleasant.

However, managerial authority does not exempt supervisors from workplace harassment requirements. Conduct presented as performance management may raise legal concerns where the surrounding circumstances indicate that it falls within the statutory definition of harassment.

What If Your Supervisor Is the Person You Would Normally Report Harassment To?

Employees are often directed to report workplace harassment to their immediate supervisor. However, this process becomes problematic when the supervisor is the person accused of misconduct.

Ontario law specifically addresses this situation. Under section 32.0.6 of the OHSA, employers’ written workplace harassment programs must include procedures allowing employees to report harassment to someone other than their employer or supervisor when that individual is the alleged harasser.

Depending on the workplace, this alternative contact might be a human resources representative, another senior manager, a designated corporate representative, or an external individual. Employees must have a reporting avenue that does not require them to approach the person allegedly responsible.

What If the Workplace Bully Is the Owner or a Senior Executive?

Reporting harassment can become more complicated when the alleged harasser is the business owner, company president, or another senior leader, particularly in smaller workplaces with limited management personnel.

Nevertheless, the OHSA requires alternative reporting procedures when the employer is the alleged harasser. The designated reporting contact may be someone outside the organization who is not under the alleged harasser’s direct control.

The investigation must also be appropriate in the circumstances. An external investigator may sometimes be necessary to address concerns about impartiality or conflicts of interest.

Does an Employer Have to Investigate Complaints Against Management?

Under section 32.0.7 of the OHSA, employers must ensure that an investigation appropriate in the circumstances is conducted into workplace harassment incidents and complaints, regardless of the accused individual’s position.

An investigation may involve interviewing the complainant, alleged harasser, and relevant witnesses, as well as reviewing available records. The investigator should be impartial and should not be directly controlled by the alleged harasser.

Employers must also inform the employee who allegedly experienced harassment, and the alleged harasser if they are a worker, in writing about the investigation results and any corrective action taken or planned. However, employees are not necessarily entitled to the complete investigation report or every detail of disciplinary measures.

Can Employees Be Punished for Reporting Their Boss?

Employees may hesitate to report workplace bullying because they fear termination, poor performance evaluations, or exclusion from professional opportunities.

Section 50 of the OHSA prohibits employers from dismissing, disciplining, intimidating, coercing, or otherwise penalizing workers because they have exercised rights protected under the legislation.

Potential reprisals may include termination following a protected complaint, unwarranted disciplinary measures, threats, or punitive changes to working conditions. However, not every adverse employment decision following a complaint constitutes an unlawful reprisal. The connection between the employer’s actions and the employee’s protected activity is important. Employees alleging reprisals under the OHSA may have recourse through the Ontario Labour Relations Board.

Can Workplace Bullying Also Constitute Discrimination?

Workplace bullying may sometimes engage protections under Ontario’s Human Rights Code, which prohibits workplace discrimination and harassment connected to protected characteristics, including race, sex, disability, age, religion, and sexual orientation.

For example, a supervisor who repeatedly makes derogatory comments about an employee’s disability, age, or ethnic background may engage additional human rights protections.

However, general workplace bullying does not necessarily constitute discrimination under the Code unless it is connected to a protected ground. Where such a connection exists, employees may have potential remedies through the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario.

Can Workplace Bullying Lead to Constructive Dismissal?

Prolonged workplace harassment may sometimes raise questions about constructive dismissal, which can occur when an employer substantially breaches the employment contract or demonstrates an intention not to remain bound by the employment relationship.

Persistent harassment, an intolerable working environment, or an employer’s failure to address serious misconduct may contribute to a constructive dismissal claim.

However, not every instance of bullying establishes constructive dismissal. The seriousness of the conduct, the employer’s response, and the broader employment relationship are relevant. Resignation can also create legal complications, particularly where the parties disagree about whether the employee left voluntarily or was constructively dismissed.

What Evidence Can Be Relevant to a Workplace Bullying Complaint?

Workplace harassment allegations frequently involve conflicting accounts of conversations, management decisions, or interactions between employees.

Relevant evidence may include emails, text messages, performance evaluations, workplace policies, complaint records, witness accounts, and contemporaneous notes documenting particular incidents.

The availability, reliability, and lawful use of evidence can influence how workplace harassment complaints and related employment disputes are assessed.

What Happens When an Employer Fails to Address Workplace Bullying?

When workplace harassment concerns remain unresolved, several legal frameworks may become relevant, including occupational health and safety enforcement, statutory reprisal protections, human rights proceedings, and employment-related claims.

Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development can address certain employer compliance issues under the OHSA. However, its workplace harassment enforcement role is distinct from determining individual damages or resolving all disputes about whether alleged misconduct occurred.

Potential employment-related consequences, including constructive dismissal or wrongful dismissal claims, require separate consideration. An employer’s responsibility to maintain an appropriate harassment program and investigate relevant concerns applies regardless of the alleged harasser’s seniority.

Peter A. McSherry Employment Lawyer: Helping Guelph Employees Address Workplace Bullying and Harassment

Peter A. McSherry Employment Lawyer represents employees facing workplace harassment, bullying, discrimination, workplace reprisals, constructive dismissal, and wrongful dismissal. We assist employees in Guelph, Wellington County, Cambridge, Kitchener-Waterloo, and surrounding Ontario communities with understanding their employment rights and available legal options.

Whether workplace harassment involves an immediate supervisor, senior manager, or business owner, Peter A. McSherry can help assess the circumstances and their potential legal implications. To arrange a confidential consultation about your employment law dispute, please contact us online or call 519-821-5465.