OTTAWA— Two former Green party staffers who accused Elizabeth May of workplace bullying say they won’t participate in an investigation launched last month because they don’t trust it is being conducted independently.

Vanessa Brustolin and Diana Nunes separately emailed their decisions Wednesday to the lawyer hired by the party to investigate their allegations, citing concerns with the process.

These include the longtime Green leader’s perceived involvement in the decision to hire Toronto lawyer Sheila Block to conduct the probe, as well as questions they have about Block’s experience with workplace investigations, Brustolin and Nunes wrote in emails that they provided to the Star.

They also want other party operatives to be allowed to take part in the investigation, which the party has said is under consideration even as the probe remains limited to three former staffers who accused May of bullying in interviews with the Star last month.

“I think it’s a sham. We asked for a proper independent investigation (to) be conducted,” Nunes, who worked as the Green party’s director of finance from 2004 to 2015, wrote in her email to Block.

Brustolin, a party employee for three months last summer, said in an interview that she has contacted the Ontario Labour Relations Board because she believes the Green party’s investigation doesn’t meet provincial standards.

“Elizabeth May should have no control over it. Everyone who wants to come forward as part of the process should be able to come forward,” she said.

Rob Rainer, the third former party employee who accused May of bullying, said he shares the concerns raised by Nunes and Brustolin, but that he still plans to take part in the investigation.

“I have no issue with the person chosen to do the investigation,” said Rainer, who was the Green party’s interim executive director for nine months in 2014.

“At the end of the day, I am confident with the information that I am going to bring forward.”

In an emailed statement Wednesday night, Green Party spokesperson John Chenery said the party has already responded to questions about the process, and that Block is a “highly respected professional who is eminently qualified to complete this investigation.

“We remain optimistic that all three complainants will participate in the investigation. However, the process will proceed and it is their choice whether they contribute their experiences or not,” he said.

Rainer, Nunes and Brustolin came forward in January to accuse the longtime Green party leader of workplace bullying, alleging she created a toxic work environment with behaviour that included yelling at employees and putting them down in front of others.

May has strongly contested being characterized as a bully, and told the Star last month that she can’t recall ever yelling in anger at a party staffer. May and McMillan dismissed the allegations as the resentment of former employees.

The party also released a statement Jan. 27 that questioned the credibility of the three accusers and said May is being held to a “different standard” because she is a woman.

Two days later, May announced outside the House of Commons that the party had hired Block to investigate the allegations from the three former staffers who spoke with the Star. She said at the time that she insisted to the party that the probe was necessary “to put this matter to bed.”

She also told reporters that she had spoken with Block that morning.

May’s comments set off concerns from May’s three accusers. Over the following days, they wrote a series of questions to Block and the party seeking clarity on Block’s background, why she was selected and how the investigation would work.

Green Party President Ken Melamed responded on Feb. 2 — in an email that was obtained by the Star — and told the accusers that May took part in the decision to hire Block and that she had called the lawyer to discuss the “process and costs” of the investigation.

Responding to questions from the Star on Feb. 12, McMillan, the party’s executive director, said May had only spoken to Block to inform her that McMillan would be available to talk later that day. She also said that the party would consider opening up the investigation to other complainants, but that no one had come forward.

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Nunes and Brustolin said Wednesday that they know of at least one other person who wants to take part in the investigation, and provided an email chain to the Star that showed the former party employee has contacted Melamed about participating.

Rainer said that he will submit his complaints about May in writing to Block, and that he will provide her with a list of people to contact to corroborate his allegations.

“I’m trusting that she will be fair,” he said.

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