TORONTO — The CEO of CIBC has sent a note to all employees, reiterating the company's non-tolerance for workplace harassment after a former worker filed a lawsuit against the bank and a former executive director over allegations of sexual harassment and assault.
Diane Vivares, a former associate in the bank's equity markets group, is seeking more than $1 million in damages from CIBC World Markets and Kevin Carter, a former executive director at the bank.
In a wrongful dismissal suit filed last December with the Ontario Superior Court, Vivares alleges Carter sexually assaulted her at the bank's Christmas party in 2007 by shoving his hand down her skirt — a claim that Carter denies in his statement of defence.
Vivares also alleges that the bank failed to protect her from other incidents that later took place and instead allowed a "sexually poisoned and toxic work environment" to develop.
CIBC denies the allegations in its statement of defence.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
The lawsuit came to light following a report Wednesday in the Globe and Mail.
CIBC says in a statement that some of the allegations date back nearly a decade and that many of the individuals allegedly involved are no longer employed by the company.
