Dawn Gallagher Murphy MPP does not run a happy ship. Her constituency office is a toxic workplace according to her former Constituency Office Manager, Teena Bogner, who was sacked on 10 June last year.

I have now heard from a raft of people who accuse Gallagher Murphy of behaviour that affected their mental health while employed by her.

In one case I was taken to task for using the word “spat” to describe the conflict between Bogner and Gallagher Murphy. 

“Harassment is not a spat. It is a serious challenge in workplaces. I am sorry you feel the need to trivialise it… Shame on you for marginalising the effect that harassment has on the well being of employees, students and people in general. It is truly awful and should not be joked about.”

Damning 

There’s more to the emails but I don’t want Gallagher Murphy to identify the sender so I have held back damning details.

And last year I received a series of emails from an employee at the Legislative Assembly accusing Gallagher Murphy of bullying and harassing her staff.

So it takes some chutzpah for Gallagher Murphy to put in this Oscar winning performance on 22 November 2024 denouncing the very behaviours she exhibits in her own office.

Hand-picked

Before she was hand-picked by Doug Ford to run as Progressive Conservative candidate in Newmarket-Aurora she was Christine Elliott’s constituency office manager. She may have ruled with a rod of iron but she didn’t run a smooth, well-functioning office. 

I remember trying to get an appointment with my then MPP Christine Elliott to discuss Ford’s plans to allow convenience stores to sell beer.

“It was early June 2019 and her office told me to come back in the Fall. After a lot of huffing and puffing I managed to get 15 minutes with my MPP two months later, on 12 August 2019, with Dawn sitting in, taking notes.” 

Even then, the office was totally dysfunctional.

Reprisal

One of the people who contacted me spoke about the powers of the Ontario Labour Relations Board:

“The OLRB only deals with reprisal, not allegations of harassment… If the hearing favours Teena Bogner it means she was terminated for reporting harassment, nothing more.”

If Bogner was sacked for reporting harassment – and given the message in the video -  I think we can safely describe Dawn Gallagher Murphy as a hypocrite as well as a bully and office tyrant.

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On November 22 2024 Dawn Gallagher Murphy said:

“Bullying is unacceptable in all its forms whether in the form of unwanted repeated aggression or in situations where there are real or perceived power imbalances between individuals.

It can be a symptom of bias and discrimination. It can be physical, verbal, cyber bullying, social, relational or written. No matter what the form, we collectively must take action to stop bullying.

Together as a community, as a society, we can stop these negative impacts on people's mental well-being. 

During this bullying awareness and prevention week we are reminded of the importance of fostering respectful, inclusive and connected school communities. I am proud of our government’s investment of $4.6 million to support initiatives aimed at reducing bullying and violence in schools.

This funding will empower trusted community partners like Big Brothers Big Sisters and Roots of Empathy to provide students with the social and emotional skills they need to thrive.

We can live in a society where children and all people feel included and appreciated.”