An Ottawa public servant whose coworker farted, made guttural sounds, walked around barefoot and washed his feet with vinegar has won the legal right to work in a different building.

Line Emond told a federal tribunal that problems began in November 2009 after “Mr. X” moved into a cubicle next to her office at the Parole Board of Canada on Laurier Street.

Emond testified that the problems began when she told Mr. X, who wore sandals year-round, that “washing his feet with vinegar in his cubicle was inappropriate,” according to a recently issued Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board decision.

Emond was also annoyed with Mr. X, a former corrections officer, for making noise in the kitchen, and eating strong-smelling leftovers in a noisy way.

She also said Mr. X would yell out to colleagues, swear and “rummage” noisily through his things at times.

Other parole board employees testified that Mr. X told loud jokes, made strange noises, “allowed himself to be flatulent,” and operated a white noise machine that was eventually banned.

Emond said she complained to her supervisor, Sheila Ouellette, and asked that one of them be moved.

Then on May 4, 2010, as she was on the phone and annoyed by the noise next door, Emond banged on the wall. Mr. X then came into her office and demanded, “What is your problem?”

According to Emond, Mr. X warned her that “there is a line on the floor — and do not cross that line because I do not know what will happen.”

Frightened, Emond again complained to Ouellette, who offered to take the problem to mediation. Emond refused and was given a new office, further away from Mr. X.

Ouellette testified that she thought the conflict was personality based. She did not believe that Mr. X was violent; she called him a friendly, awkward person who was ridiculed and mocked by co-workers, while Emond, she said, was a hard worker with a strong personality who liked “things to be done her way.”

After Mr. X filed a harassment complaint against Emond, she sought medical help and went on sick leave.

The dispute ended up before the federal government’s labour relations tribunal, which heard the case over seven days. Mr. X did not testify.

Adjudicator Linda Gobeil sided with Emond, ruling that her stress could only be relieved by moving to another building, and ordered the government to compensate Emond for lost wages and benefits.