Canadian Labour Reporter

April 9, 2018

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8 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 April 9, 2018 ARBITRATION AWARDS also filed (April 15, June 8 and July 12, all in 2016) for violating the collective agreement for intimi- dation, discrimination for union activity, bullying and harassment. Giberson testified that Aggar- wal was an excellent teacher, but he was also difficult to manage and did not take kindly to any criticism. Aggarwal became more combative during successive inci- dents, said Giberson. During a June 2014 presenta- tion, the grievance alleged, Giber- son interrupted Aggarwal's con- stant questions by telling him to "get it through your thick skull," in front of about 20 to 30 colleagues. But Giberson denied making the comment. In another incident, Giberson felt a student's appeal of a mark should be upheld, against Aggar- wal's wishes. But Giberson ended the meeting when he said, "This could be your last rodeo, cowboy," to Aggarwal. Giberson testified that he didn't make any such comments and that type of wording was not part of his regular vocabulary. In 2014, Aggarwal requested leave from attending a doctorate program of study as he was strug- gling with personal problems, but it was denied by Giberson. Instead, Giberson suggested a reduced workload, but this was refused by Aggarwal. Giberson also offered to assign Aggarwal courses on one campus, instead of two, which was accepted. Finally, it was alleged Giberson assigned work to Aggarwal during a vacation in June 2016. But the email was sent to Ag- garwal requesting the status of a course outline that was supposed to have been completed before he went on vacation. Giberson testi- fied he wasn't aware Aggarwal was on vacation and he was only in- quiring about the outline. Arbitrator Norm Jesin dis- missed all of the grievances. "I agree that the most of the in- cidents cited by (Aggarwal) are incidents in which Giberson ex- pressed legitimate disagreement with (Aggarwal), as with regard to the student appeals, or in which Giberson expressed reasonable criticism of (Aggarwal) by telling him he should be less combative and more cooperative. Rightly or wrongly, it is within Giberson's management right to express such disagreement and to level such criticism in the circumstances de- scribed," said Jesin. The email during the vacation was also not in violation of the col- lective agreement, according to Jesin. "I also find no violation in Giberson's email to (Aggarwal) during his vacation. It was legit- imate for Giberson to ask (Ag- garwal) about an assignment that was overdue. Giberson did not ask (Aggarwal) to perform any work on his vacation." Aggarwal's behaviour con- tributed greatly to the tense feel- ings between him and Giberson. "(Aggarwal) did not easily accept Giberson's decisions when (Ag- garwal) disagreed with him. (Ag- garwal) may have found these areas of disagreement difficult to accept. However, from Giberson's viewpoint, (Aggarwal's) reluc- tance to accept Giberson's deci- sions in circumstances where he disagreed created challenges for Giberson in his ability to manage," said Jesin. Finally, both of the reported derogatory comments were not proved, said the arbitrator. "The evidence does not make out that Giberson made the com- ments alleged and further, he is aware that such comments are not acceptable. Even if the 'rodeo' comment had been made, it is not clear to me that a single com- ment made in frustration would amount to violation of the collect- ive agreement," said Jesin. Reference: Sheridan College and Ontario Public Service Employees Union. Norm Jesin — arbitrator. Daniel Michaluk for the employer. Mathieu Belanger, Rebecca Liu for the employee. March 12, 2018. 2018 CarswellOnt 3702 unit manager, who discovered that a patient was given an in- correct dosage of Tylenol 3 pills. A co-worker of Brown's told Nay that when the elderly patient was provided with two pills, as per the proper prescription, the patient refused and said the previous time Brown only gave out one pill. In double-checking the chart, the co-worker found that Brown wrote down she had given the pa- tient two pills. Nay began to investigate Brown's previous charting and found several other errors. An- other nurse told Nay that she felt pressured by Brown to sign that she had witnessed narcotic waste, when she hadn't. Another disciplinary mat- ter came to light on Aug. 19 af- ter Brown told Nay that she had shared her computer password with her husband so he could check on her paycheck. Nay told Brown to immediately change her password, but during a Sept. 10 investigation meeting, Brown said she hadn't yet changed it. She was suspended and off work as of Sept. 19. Brown and the union, United Nurses of Alberta (UNA), grieved the suspension but arbitrator Lyle Kanee (with Marty Sholtz and George Courts making up the arbitration board) upheld it. "AHS proved (Brown) made a number of charting errors, signed as witness when a co-worker charted that she drew the medi- cations on two different occasions when both doses were drawn at the same time, and failed to change her password after be- ing asked by her supervisor three times to do so. These incidents gave AHS just cause for disci- pline." On Feb. 13, 2014, Brown was suspended five days for violating the catheter management proto- col on more than one occasion. On June 17, Brown was given another five-day suspension for incorrect documentation of a narcotic count tab and improper procedures during a blood trans- fusion. As well, Brown was cited for medication dispensing errors and "improper disposal of mor- phine down the sink." During a meeting on June 15, Brown could not recall some of the incidents and she didn't have any proper explanations, testified Kevin Elder, unit manager. Brown remembered the nar- cotics disposal incident, but she said she became confused after hearing another patient make a noise from another room. Again, Brown grieved the sus- pension, but "AHS proved, on a balance of probabilities, that (Brown) asked a co-worker to wit- ness wastage after the medication had been wasted and she wasted the medication in the sink instead of the sharp container. (Brown) admitted these events in the in- vestigation meeting," said Kanee. Finally, on July 21, Brown was fired for not following the "mag- nesium sulphate policy when pro- viding care for a patient." The dismissal was also grieved, but "AHS established that (Brown) programmed the pump to administer magnesium sul- phate at rates that were unsafe and contrary to the applicable policy," said Kanee. The arbitrator found that the culminating series of incidents leading to the termination was justified, and he dismissed the final grievance. "In the investigation meetings, (Brown) rarely accepted respons- ibility for her misconduct and of- fered no explanations that would mitigate the misconduct. In the investigation into the magnesium sulphate pump issue, (Brown) claimed she relied upon a differ- ent policy yet no other policy was produced in evidence. When pro- vided with a pump and asked to program it, she was unable to do so," said Kanee. "Regrettably, as (Brown) did not testify, any reasons for her rapid deterioration after decades of solid performance remain a mystery to this panel." Reference: Alberta Health Services and United Nurses of Alberta. Lyle Kanee — arbitrator. Erin Ludwig, Stephanie Arse- nault for the employer. Marilyn Vavasour for the employee. March 12, 2018. 2018 CarswellAlta 530 Supervisor 'right to express such disagreement': Arbitrator < Wrong medication pg. 1 < Bullying pg. 1

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