The Breach has spoken with staff who say they have been sexually assaulted at work and have lost shifts after raising safety concerns. These dangerous and traumatic working conditions, the workers say, have led to workplace injury and poor outcomes for clients.

These conditions exist on top of work that is already heavy and can be traumatizing. Lynn told The Breach that—in the absence of official data—she started a list of clients who passed away when using drugs again shortly after leaving. Between 2021 and 2023, her list grew to include 11 people.

Despite facing consequences for speaking up, these workers are fighting back with every tool they have: by unionizing, lodging official complaints, or simply finding better places to work.

In response to questions from The Breach about why Lynn was told she should not have contacted WorkSafeBC about the broken lock, Phoenix’s CEO said it happened before her tenure. “Phoenix is subject to and compliant with regulation and oversight including WorkSafeBC,” the email from Justine Patterson said.