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Emplo
y
ment Law Today
Canad ad a ian
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Employer's neglect of harassment
complaints proves costly
Ignoring worker's complaints and fi ring her
after workplace assault leads to more that 190,000 in damages
BY ANEESHA LEWIS
IN ORDER to ensure the safety of work-
places, it is an employer's responsibility to
investigate complaints of harassment and,
if required, take steps to adequately ad-
dress the situation. However, employers do
not always comply with these require-
ments. e recent Ontario Superior Court
of Justice case of Bassanese v. German Ca-
nadian News Company Limited et al. is a
cautionary tale of the fi nancial conse-
quences when an employer ignores com-
plaints of harassment and terminates the
employee's employment rather than ad-
dressing the complaints.
e employee, Heidi Bassanese, was
73 years old and had worked for German
Canadian News Company (GCNC) in an
administrative role for approximately 19
years. For a period of several months in
Lack of clarity on reasons employee
was fi red leads to unjust dismissal
Loss of trust over suspected gas theft, 'not a good fi t' excuse not enough
for just cause under Canada Labour Code: Adjudicator
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
AN ONTARIO employer lost trust in an
employee after suspected theft of gas meant
for company vehicles and felt the employee
wasn't a good fi t anymore, but these reasons
didn't constitute just cause for dismissal un-
der the Canada Labour Code, an adjudica-
tor has ruled.
Huron Commodities is a provider of cus-
tom-sourced grain, bean, and seed products
based in Clinton, Ont. Huron hired Paul Al-
exander, 59, in 2012 as a procurement and
commodity originator, a position charged
with arranging contracts with farmers for
Huron to purchase their produce — mostly
soybeans — for the company to sell to cus-
tomers in Asia.
When Alexander was hired, he was one
of only two originators for the company and
he had an area in southwestern Ontario in
which to procure contracts from farmers.
He received good performance reviews in
his fi rst few years with Huron with no disci-
pline on his record. However, the company
eventually hired two more originators, re-
ducing Alexander's area, and his sales the
Worker's self-love at work
doesn't fl y with employer pg. 4
Washroom activities not private
enough to avoid making co-workers
uncomfortable
June 26, 2019
Health-care worker fi red
for dirty joke pg. 3
Breach of employer policy and
public trust, along with disciplinary
history, provided just cause
NO EVIDENCE on page 6 »
CREDIT:
ANDREY_POPOV/SHUTTERSTOCK
Ask the Expert pg. 2
Contractual defi nitions
of 'just cause'
with Colin Gibson
EMPLOYER on page 7 »
