A Justice of the Peace says she was in a "state of shock" after a male colleague suddenly grabbed her buttock and disappeared into his office without a word.
"It was a deliberate full-hand grab and squeeze," she told a commission of inquiry yesterday. "By the time I had turned around he retreated to his office."
A public hearing is determining if Justice of the Peace Vernon A. Chang Alloy should be removed from office or otherwise disciplined for his alleged conduct.
The complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, said the groping occurred on July 20, 2006 as she and Chang Alloy were chatting in a corridor of a Brampton courthouse, in an area restricted to JPs and select staff.
"I was very shocked by this incident," she told prosecutor Gavin MacKenzie, adding that a week or two before, Chang Alloy had run his finger down her spine.
She lodged a complaint on Aug. 7, after which, she said, she accidentally pushed a door into Chang Alloy. "He said, 'I bet you've been wanting to do that for a while.' "
Soon administrators scheduled them in different courthouses and she tried to avoid him. There's been a lot of gossip, she said. "It's been very, very stressful and very emotional." She is taking sleep aids.
Defence lawyer Eugene Bhattacharya suggested she could not be sure it was Chang Alloy who groped her, since when she turned around no one was in the hallway.
"I know there wasn't anyone else there," she said.
Asked if it was possible the alleged grabbing was really the sensation of her JP's gown getting caught on something, she said "I don't believe it could be misconstrued."
The hearing continues today.