After lying low for a period, the client began to book lessons from female instructors once again. Concerned about the safety of his fellow instructors, a union member notified the responsible Instructor Support Leader (ISL) of the situation, and potential danger, in writing.

The ISL failed to respond at all. After six days, with the failure of the ISL, (and Gaba as a whole) to take measures to protect and warn the female instructor, our member felt he had no other option than to warn the new female instructor himself.

As a result of doing so, our member was issued with a written warning for “disclosing personal and confidential information” and that the comments (that the client was a known harasser) “misrepresented [the client’s] circumstances and resulted in the cancellation of a blue-booked lesson”. A series of threats followed, including the threat of firing.

The union is raising this issue with the company. For Gaba to neglect its duties to instructors and then threaten to fire an instructor for doing what the ISL in question failed to do is unacceptable.

Although it has said it will do so, Gaba Corporation has still not posted information about company rules on harassment from clients to instructors, nor information about the process for instructors to block clients. In fact, an Instructor Support Area Manager who was asked about it through instructor Voice has refused to answer questions about it. This is not good enough. Gaba has a duty of care to its instructors, and the union has been raising this issue for years now.

If you have any questions, or have experienced any similar problems at Gaba, please feel free to contact the union. union(@)generalunion.org

September 30, 2015