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A public service director was told her workers wanted her dead and would eat her liver after a gossip problem in a deeply dysfunctional Gatineau, Que., government office descended into threats, allegations of tyranny, and a teary meeting between senior executives.

Things got so bad in the Research and Policy directorate at what was formerly known as the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in 2012 and 2013 that outside specialists in conflict resolution were brought in, according to a recent decision by the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board.

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But that intervention only seemed to make things worse, inflaming one particularly disgruntled employee — known only as Mr. B in the board’s decision — and prompting a 28-page harassment complaint against his supervisor and a trip to sick leave.

The revelations about the discord came out in the grievance filed by Katherine Green, who was at the time a director in the Specific Claims Branch that dealt with Treaties and Aboriginal government.