- Parties: The applicant was Karine Bolduc. The respondent was the Attorney General of Canada. 

- Subject Matter: The applicant filed a harassment complaint against a superior officer. In response, the Chief of Staff of the Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Canadian Armed Forces at the time prepared two related situational assessments dated July 15, 2022. The situational assessments concluded that the matters raised in her complaint did not meet the applicable criteria for harassment. She sought judicial review of those decisions on the basis that they were unreasonable and unfair. 

- Ruling: The court partly allowed the judicial review application, quashed the first situational assessment of the applicant’s harassment complaint, and remitted it for redetermination by a different appropriate officer. The court found the first situational assessment unreasonable because the Chief of Staff did not conduct the necessary assessment at this stage of the proceedings, namely whether the allegations met the definition of harassment. He failed to address the applicant’s allegation that the superior willfully withheld information from a potential employer for the improper purpose of retaliating against her, the court said. However, the court rejected the applicant’s other arguments, including those alleging bias and abuse of process arising from delay. 

- Date: The hearing was set on Oct. 25, 2023. The court released its decision on Nov. 10, 2023. 

- Venue: This was a federal case before the Federal Court. 

- Amount: The court ordered the respondent to pay the applicant her recoverable out-of-pocket disbursements but awarded no other costs.