Teaching assistant claims York U kept silent over sexual assault allegations

A York University PhD student who alleged she was sexually assaulted by a fellow teaching assistant, refuses to be silent.

Mandi Grey said she wants to be named so she can openly fight, what she claims is, a school that offered her no help and kept quiet about allegations against an employee.

The alleged incident happened off-campus, after a York University event on Jan. 31. Police have confirmed that one suspect has been arrested and charged with sexual assault.

Grey said she hasn’t wanted to return to class, or her job as a teaching assistant, since the incident.

“I feel that it is (like) being raped every single day of my life by my employer, by my educator,” Grey said. “I’ve had to take a leave of absence from my own employment as a TA.”

Grey said she was shocked at the many roadblocks she’s hit while trying to seek help from the school since the attack, and the fact the campus, at large, was never officially alerted about an allegation against an employee.

“When other women started to hear about what was happening, they were in shock that they had to hear it from myself that their classmate had been charged with sexual assault,” she said.

While teaching assistants are on strike at the school’s Keele campus, Grey organized a mobile demonstration, moving from picket line to picket line, demonstrating against what she calls inaction on the part of York University to her sexual assault allegations.

Grey said she’s even sent an open letter about her experience to the president of York University and more than 100 others.

York’s Vice-Provost for Students would not comment on if the accused teaching assistant is banned from the school property and would not confirm if the accused has been suspended as an employee.

“I can’t speak to the specifics of any one case,” Janet Morrison explained. “What I can say is that York University takes instances of sexual violence very seriously.”

Morrison said issuing a security alert to the campus is determined on a case-by-case basis “depending on what the potential perceived risk to the community would be.”

The accused has stepped down from an executive position with their union — CUPE local 3903.

A message of support to Grey has been issued on the union’s website.

“We are taking action to support the member by committing ourselves to developing serious, long-term measures that begin to address systemic and structural problems such as sexism, misogyny, sexual violence, and rape culture.”

Grey said the accused is set to appear in court for his first appearance on March 30.

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