Hay River (Feb 21/05) - A letter of reprimand to a Hay River hospital worker for speaking French on the job has not been withdrawn, according to a union official.

But a hospital official denies that anyone has been disciplined over language use.

Jean-Francois Des Lauriers, regional vice-president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), said confusion over the reprimand in a media report apparently arose because the woman received two letters. The first reprimanded her for speaking French to a co-worker and leaving work without permission after meeting with management.

Des Lauriers said management later discovered the woman left work after speaking to a supervisor.

The woman then received a second letter, correcting the accusation she left work without permission, he said.

However, Des Laurier said the second letter did not mention the language reprimand.

"That still has not been corrected by management."

Paul Vieira, the CEO of the Hay River Health and Social Services Authority, said, "There's no discipline letter on anybody's file related to language."

Vieira declined to explain what that means in relation to the woman's case, since that is a specific personnel matter.

According to the union, the unidentified woman received a letter of reprimand in December. The gist of the reprimand is that it is "rude" to speak any language other than English while working at H.H. Williams Hospital, including French or aboriginal languages.

Des Lauriers said the union is filing a grievance over the issue, and may file a human rights complaint.

In the Legislative Assembly on Feb. 14, Yellowknife Centre MLA Robert Hawkins asked the government whether it planned to "look into" the issue. Charles Dent, the minister responsible for official languages, replied he will respect the grievance process and watch how things unfold.