Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) president Sarah El Fitori returned on Sept. 30 from a two-week leave of absence from her role. The absence was not announced to CUSA council or the Carleton student body.
At the CUSA council meeting on Sept. 30, El Fitori described her leave as a “partial leave of absence” to focus on her health and “re-evaluate” her priorities as president.
In an Oct. 1 emailed statement to the Charlatan, El Fitori described the absence as a “medically mandated partial leave,” and said she continued “all regular work” for her presidency despite not being in the office. El Fitori added she has not taken any vacation time since the beginning of her term.
El Fitori’s leave began on Sept. 18, according to Aiden Rohacek, CUSA’s vice-president (internal). El Fitori did not confirm the official starting date of her leave of absence, despite the Charlatan’s several requests.
El Fitori announced her return from leave at the Sept. 30 council meeting.
“Why were we not informed that Sarah went on leave?” Coun. Dana Sayed Ahmed asked at the meeting.
“We weren’t given much heads-up,” Rohacek said. “I did not really understand any of the information surrounding this leave or when it would end, so I didn’t really have any information to give council.”
He said he had hoped to inform the council of El Fitori’s leave at the Sept. 30 meeting, as he did not know if she would be back by that time.
“I didn’t really have any information about the leave at all,” he said.
In her emailed statement, El Fitori said medical leaves are not information she needs to share with anyone other than her supervisors and the CUSA board. Those people were all informed, she wrote.
“Councillors are entitled to whatever opinion they have,” El Fitori wrote. “That being said, council is not informed of my day-to-day work or my work schedule as they are not my direct supervisors in terms of employment.”
El Fitori did not explain why she did not communicate the details of her leave to CUSA council and the student body, despite repeated requests for comment.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi
