TORONTO -- A prominent CTV News reporter has been suspended, hours after a woman made sexual misconduct allegations against him.
Bell Media's vice president of communications said Paul Bliss, who works at CTV's bureau in the Ontario legislature, has been suspended and an investigation is underway.
"Allegations have been made against a CTV News reporter," Scott Henderson said in an email statement provided to The Canadian Press.
"We take this very seriously and as a result have suspended Paul Bliss until an investigation is complete."
The allegations were made in a blog post by Bridget Brown, who describes herself as a Calgary-based entrepreneur and former CTV employee.
Under a Friday post titled "MeToo in Canadian Broadcasting," Brown detailed an alleged sexual incident in the spring of 2006 involving an unnamed CTV reporter.
Brown wrote that when she began working at CTV, she reached out to a reporter she had met at a party a few weeks earlier and asked if he'd like to get coffee with her in the cafeteria and reconnect.
The reporter "suggested instead I come to his office after his shift," wrote Brown, and she agreed.
Brown said the reporter showed her around "the storied building where he worked," and ended the tour back in his office.
She alleges that he then started kissing her and "pushing on the top of my head," at which point she "bluntly" told him she wasn't interested.
Brown wrote that she kept silent about the alleged incident for 12 years, and had been struggling in recent months with whether to reveal it.
She said she had been thinking about the .MeToo movement of women coming forward with stories of sexual harassment, and reading about the resignation of Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Patrick Brown.
He stepped down early Thursday morning, hours after CTV reported that two women have come forward with sexual misconduct allegations against him -- allegations that haven't been verified by The Canadian Press.
In a post on Twitter Friday night, Bridget Brown wrote that she decided to come forward now because she had noticed a "dearth in .MeToo stories coming from Canada, specifically from media in Canada."
When reached by phone, she told The Canadian Press she had no comment on Bliss's suspension.
Her allegations have not been verified by The Canadian Press, and Bliss did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Bliss's biography on CTV's website describes him as a "veteran reporter ... and occasional anchor for CTV Toronto."
It says he has won 13 awards for his reporting, including the Edward R. Murrow International Award for Best News Series.
The volume of phone calls/texts/DMs makes it impossible to response to each. So, tweet thread it is.
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018
I am so grateful that so many people decided to read my essay. It reached much farther than I expected and I hope it emboldens victims and scares perpetrators into changing their behaviour.
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018
Some ppl have suggested I should have told CTV at the time. Yes, I agree. But I didn’t have secure employment, and the conditions around reporting sexual harassment aren’t the same as they are today.
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018
I have had many ppl reach out to me and some experienced the same thing I did. I do have guilt around the issue that other people might have been protected if I’d spoken out earlier. There is nothing I can do about that now other than speak now.
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018
I wouldn’t handle the situation the same way today, but I think all women make different decisions at 38 than they did at 25. (Let that be a warning to any man who whips it out in my presence, without specifically being asked.)
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018
WHY TALK NOW? I noticed a dearth in #MeToo stories coming from Canada, specifically from media in Canada and given that I’ve had this sexual harassment experience AND others less disgusting, I decided to share mine in the hopes of facilitating some dialogue.
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018
I didn’t name this person in my essay or on Twitter. I DID name him to Bell HR today when they called me. That will be extent to which I acknowledge any specifics.
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018
I didn’t name this person in my essay or on Twitter. I DID name him to Bell HR today when they called me. That will be extent to which I acknowledge any specifics.
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018
This essay started as a section of my upcoming book about how Canadian broadcasters treat staff with mental illness. I hope discussions around workplace harassment, workplace trauma and mental illness on the job continue to proliferate.
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018
& thanks to my colleagues, family, friends and strangers who’ve reached out with kind words today. I’m fortunate in so many ways. —FIN-
— Bridget Brown (@Bridget_Brown_) January 27, 2018