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She claims the harassment began shortly after she was hired as part of the construction site cleanup crew.

The only woman on the crew, Belia Mejia says she struggled for six months, “Trying to fit in … trying to be one of the guys.”

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It started with snide comments, Mejia alleges.

“They would call me ‘p—y’ all the time. It went too far, and when I told my boss what happened, he said he would talk to them. But nothing ever happened.”

She alleges the harassment continued, and, as detailed in a complaint filed in February with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, escalated to include physical threats, crude racist and sexist comments, and an allegation that two male co-workers had once followed her home “to check where I live.”

She quit her job in January and has not worked since.

According to the Human Rights Tribunal complaint, obtained by this newspaper, Mejia is now seeking $40,000 in damages from the construction company, Manotick-based Versatek Building Corp.