Canadian Safety Reporter

was trying to intimidate her, and when she suggested they go to the military police to see if there was an investigation the worker suggested he could set her up to look like a thief. The other dispatcher made a formal complaint of harass- ment to Atco. She said she was scared of the worker because of his behaviour towards her and had seen him act angrily and aggressively with others at the base. She checked with the military police three times to see if there was an investigation and to say she was afraid of the worker when he returned after his one-month leave. Foiled attempts at resolution When the worker returned, Atco held a meeting to discuss the ha- rassment complaint. The other dispatcher added that the worker had mentioned he had "friends that break legs and take care of problems for him." The worker denied calling her a thief or threatening her, but acted aggres- sively and angrily in the meeting. The other dispatcher said she could work with the worker if she could feel safe and free from intimidation, but the worker said that didn't make sense if she was afraid of him. He finally said "Ei- ther she goes, or I go," thinking one of them could be transferred to another job at that base or an- other one Atco managed. Atco decided that the worker was an embarrassment and a li- ability for the company and there were no vacancies at Camp Black Bear, so it terminated his em- ployment on Oct. 16, 2002. The termination letter stated that it couldn't rely on the worker to in- teract with fellow employees in an acceptable manner. The worker became aware of rumours about his dismissal circulating in the military. Some were that he was a sexual preda- tor, others accused him of sell- ing arms to the Irish Republican Army. However, most soldiers he talked to about it though the rumours were unbelievable. The worker sued Atco for wrongful dismissal and defama- tion. He argued he was a strong performer and he made appro- priate inquiries about the televi- sion and bag to avoid embarrass- ment for Atco, and Atco should have found another position for either himself or the other dis- patcher. The case was entangled in the legal system for 12 years before reaching the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench. The court noted that Atco had to keep in mind that the other dispatcher had the right to be free from the worker's intimidating behaviour and the worker gave Atco an ultimatum: "Either she goes, or I go." This meant there could be no reso- lution where both employees would continue in their current employment. The court found Atco fol- lowed its policy in dealing with the complaint and tried to re- solve the matter. However, the worker was "assertive, bordering on aggressive and certainly not conciliatory." Atco was aware that the work- er had previously been offered assistance with his anger and ag- gressiveness and he had a previ- ous warning about such behav- iour. When he acted dismissive of the mediation process, there wasn't much Atco could do, said the court. The court also noted that Atco didn't have a duty to find a position for the worker else- where because his employment contract was for "a certain posi- tion in a certain place which the employer could not unilaterally change." Given the workplace was a small military base, the worker breached his obligations when he intimidated a co-work- er with the same job and refused to work with her, said the court. The court found Atco had just cause to terminate the worker's employment. It also found Atco was not responsible for the ru- mours going through military circles and there wasn't evidence of real harm to his reputation or that the worker suffered acute mental stress because of them. The worker's claim for wrong- ful dismissal and defamation was dismissed. For more information see: • Turner v. Atco Frontec Corp., 2016 CarswellAlta 854 (Alta. Q.B.). ©2016 Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-7798-2810-4 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher (Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business). Canadian Safety Reporter is part of the Canadian HR Reporter group of publications: • Canadian HR Reporter — www.hrreporter.com • Canadian Occupational Safety magazine — www.cos-mag.com • Canadian Payroll Reporter — www.payroll-reporter.com • Canadian Employment Law Today — www.employmentlawtoday.com • Canadian Labour Reporter — www.labour-reporter.com See carswell.com for information Safety Reporter Canadian www.safetyreporter.com Published 12 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. Subscription rate: $129 per year Customer Service Tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 E-mail: carswell.customerrelations @thomsonreuters.com Website: www.carswell.com One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Road Toronto, Ontario, Canada M1T 3V4 Director, Carswell Media Karen Lorimer Publisher/Managing Editor Todd Humber Lead Editor Jeffrey R. Smith Assistant Editor Mallory Hendry Marketing & Audience Development Manager Robert Symes rob.symes@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-9551 Circulation Co-ordinator Keith Fulford keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com (416) 649-9585 CSR | October 2016 | News Military base < pg. 5 Worker's aggression and accusations frightened co-worker WEBINARS Interested in learning more about safety and HR issues directly from the experts? Check out the Carswell Professional Development Centre's live and on-demand webinars discussing topics such as building strong safety leadership, engaging managers and supervisors to ensure OHS compliance, and building a better joint health and safety committee. Visit www.cpdcentre.ca/cos for more information.

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