Mennonite Central Committee has reached a legal settlement with a couple who contend their employment as MCC workers in Burkina Faso was terminated without sufficient cause while they were on sick leave. The couple has raised concerns about workplace abuse.
According to a Jan. 31 release from MCC Abuse Survivors Together (MAST), an organization formed in September 2024 to, according to the MAST website, “coordinate ongoing efforts to hold MCC accountable for its abusive behavior,” MCC will pay Anicka Fast and John Clarke $180,000 CAD ($124,400 U.S.) MCC neither admits nor denies wrongdoing in the settlement, which was finalized Jan. 22.
In a Feb. 5 release, MCC confirms the settlement and says it “disputes both the facts and allegations stated by Clarke and Fast in the media.” It also says, “claims of systemic abuse are unequivocally false.” The agency offers an apology: “MCC apologizes that our executive directors and HR staff were not always able to respond quickly or clearly enough to Clarke’s questions and concerns.”
MAST says it is aware of 52 cases of “bad endings” with MCC, in which individuals or couples have claimed harassment or abuse by MCC and have expressed the pain they feel due to isolation from communities loyal to MCC.
Clarke and Fast, MCC workers from Quebec who attended a Mennonite Brethren church there from 1994 to 2013, were terminated in August 2023. The couple, along with five other people involuntarily terminated by MCC, published a letter to MCC constituents in June 2024 detailing their experiences and allegations. They said they were speaking up because they care about MCC and believe constituents should know of their experiences.
MCC and the couple have divergent accounts of events. MCC focuses on what it characterizes as the couple’s unwillingness to work from a location of MCC’s choice during a period of turmoil in Burkina Faso and the efforts MCC says it made to care for the couple.
Fast and Clarke report they were fired following a diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder, shortly after raising concerns about workplace abuse to MCC executive directors and a board chair. The couple considered their efforts to talk with MCC regarding their concerns about human resources practices to be unsuccessful. So in October 2023, Clarke and Fast each filed a formal complaint with the provincial labor board in Quebec, their home jurisdiction.
As part of the legal process, Rick Cober Bauman, MCC Canada executive director, and Clarke and Fast participated in a mediation session held Jan. 22, 2025.
In an email to Christian Leader editors, Clarke and Fast summarize the result of the mediation process, saying, “We came to a non-confidential settlement with MCC. No NDA. No denial (or admission) of wrongdoing from MCC…. We are free—and fully intend—to continue our advocacy as before.”
Third party investigation conducted
Clarke and Fast’s concerns were also investigated by a third party. In November 2023, Clarke and Fast sent a letter of grievance to the MCC Canada and U.S. boards. Board chairs Ron Ratzlaff and Gilberto Perez, respectively, responded, expressing a willingness to engage in mediation and saying MCC would initiate a third-party investigation.
Clarke and Fast say they declined to participate in the investigation because, among other reasons, they had no say in the choice of investigator, the initial mandate stated the report would go only to the MCC HR department (the couple would not receive even a summary), and MCC failed to provide them with access to their own emails and messages from their time with MCC.
Though MCC later responded to some of the couple’s concerns—moving toward providing access to documents and promising that the board would receive a full report and the couple would receive a summary—they still say they lacked overall confidence that MCC was committed to getting to the bottom of possible wrongdoing.
Clarke, Fast and other MAST members are still hoping for a comprehensive external investigation into the numerous cases of alleged mistreatment of workers by MCC.
The results of the Veritas investigation, announced in January 2025, found that “MCC processes and some decision making by senior personnel as a whole … is reasonably understood to fall within the threshold of harassment as defined by MCC’s Workplace Harassment and Violence Policy.”
The investigation was conducted by Edmonton-based Veritas Solutions, which describes itself as “the foremost human resource risk management, workplace, regulatory and sport investigations consulting firm in Western Canada.”
In its Feb. 5 statement, MCC says, “None of the findings were related to any type of sexual harassment or any form of gender or age harassment or discrimination; the definition of harassment in MCC’s policies is far more expansive than how harassment is defined under Canadian or U.S. law.”
MCC does not typically disclose confidential information in personnel files but stated in its release it felt compelled to respond directly after Clarke and Fast shared their experience publicly.
MCC stated that it repeatedly encouraged the couple to seek counseling, support and medical care when they raised concerns and that it offered to accommodate their requests for changes in their duties.
“While the couple and their family were in the Netherlands, Clarke stated that he and Fast would be unwilling to be located in any country in Africa, including other politically stable countries where assistance was available,” MCC states. “At that point, MCC indicated it was not a viable option for country representatives to serve outside their region.”
A separation package worth more than $150,000 CAD conditional on a non-disclosure and non-disparagement clause was offered at that point. The agreement stated that if Fast and Clarke did not sign it, they would receive approximately $118,000 less. They did not sign.
A facilitated conversation between MCC board members and the couple are being arranged by leaders from Mennonite World Conference and Mennonite Mission Network.
MAST shares details on the organization’s website launched in January.
This article draws on reports published in Anabaptist World and extensive coverage by Canadian Mennonite, including “Involuntary: Terminated MCC workers call for accountability and change.”
Connie Faber joined the magazine staff in 1994 and assumed the duties of editor in 2004. She has won awards from the Evangelical Press Association for her writing and editing. Faber is the co-author of Family Matters: Discovering the Mennonite Brethren. She and her husband, David, have two daughters, one son, one daughter-in-law, one son-in-law and three grandchildren. They are members of Ebenfeld MB Church in Hillsboro, Kansas.
