EDMONTON - Two of Patrick Clayton’s hostages told court that the Alberta Worker’s Compensation Board has victimized them as much as the man who held them at gunpoint.
Randy Morrow, a WCB claimant, and Nicole Ferguson, a former WCB administrative assistant, read victim-impact statements at Clayton’s sentencing hearing on Tuesday morning.
Clayton pleaded guilty last week to hostage-taking, pointing a firearm and possession of a weapon.
On Oct. 21, 2009, Clayton walked into the downtown WCB building with a long-barrelled rifle and a grudge. He began collecting hostages as he moved through the building until he brought nine of them to a conference room on the top floor. Through the day, he let them all go unharmed.
Ferguson was herded at gunpoint by Clayton, but escaped and called 911 before the group was locked in a room with him. Still, the experience haunts her.
“I often feel it would be better if I had been shot dead,” she told court through tears.
Ferguson told court she suffered from constant fear, moodiness, distant relationships, frustration, isolation and sleep deprivation. After the incident with Clayton, she often vomited before going to work. Ferguson said she has random panic attacks from the experience. She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, for which she takes medication and is involved in therapy.
Eventually, she said, the WCB cut her loose.
“I lost my job with the WCB because they felt they could not accommodate my needs,” Ferguson said.
As a result, she had to move in with her brother to make ends meet.
A WCB spokeswoman would not discuss the details of Ferguson’s departure from the WCB because of privacy reasons, but said the board prides itself on a flexible work environment.
“As an employer, we make every possible effort to accommodate work restrictions and needs,” Marcela Matthew said. “We take great pride in that.”
However, Matthew said those efforts do not always end successfully. “For example, if someone can’t do office work, our options may be limited.”
Of the eight WCB employees locked in the room with Clayton, one has retired, three have resigned and four are still employed.
Morrow has also been frustrated by the WCB. He told court he recognizes the grievances Clayton first told him about as his own.
“Little did I know that some of Patrick’s complaints would soon become my reality,” he said.
Morrow was the only hostage not employed by the WCB and the last to be released. He formed a bond with him during the ordeal. “I was doing my best to save Patrick’s life and perhaps someone else’s on the other side of that door,” he said.
Outside court, Morrow said he “most definitely” empathizes with Clayton’s frustrations, if not his crimes.
“Patrick may have done something extremely wrong, and he did, but there was a cause for that and we’re dealing with the effect,” he said.
Morrow said outside court that it is now WCB that makes him feel like a hostage, with having to follow their direction and wishes or “face the consequences.” He referred to himself as “voiceless” when dealing with the WCB for a workplace shoulder injury.
The day he took over the WCB building, Clayton repeatedly told his hostages he just wanted to be “heard.”
Through that day, he told the hostages about his strong dislike for a WCB doctor who treated him for a 2003 knee injury he suffered at work. Clayton complained the doctor had wrecked his knee and that the WCB had not given him enough money to live on.
When Clayton let his first hostage walk free, he gave him a notebook that contained “a journal of his angry journey with the WCB.”
Eventually, Clayton let his last hostage leave, set his rifle down and surrendered peacefully to a police tactical squad.
No one was injured in the incident.
The sentencing hearing is scheduled to last four days and will continue Wednesday. Court will hear from a forensic psychologist who examined Clayton while he was in custody.
Clayton is also expected to testify.
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