Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER SEPTEMBER 2018 30 INSIGHT TRACK AND FIELD 'EVENT' KENILWORTH, N.J. — A school superintendent in New Jersey is set to receive US$100,000 from his school district — despite be- ing accused of defecating on his school's track more than once. omas Tramaglini was charged with public defecation, lewdness and littering, according to the As- sociated Press. Surveillance video is said to have captured the man in the act, though Tramaglini's attorney said his client plans to fi ght the allegations. e super- intendent has since resigned from his post, and Kenilworth Public Schools was set to pay the former employee's full salary until the end of September, according to a sepa- ration agreement signed in July. Tramaglini would also receive two months' severance and more than US$20,000 in unused vacation days. SERVING UP SCANDAL NEW CANAAN, CONN. — Also said to be behaving badly were two sisters who worked at a school cafeteria in Connecticut. e women were recently charged with stealing US$478,588 over fi ve years from their employer. Joanne Pascarelli and Marie Wilson were charged with larceny and defraud- ing a public community, accord- ing to the New Canaan News. e two were placed on administrative leave and have since resigned. For several years, the average daily deposit from one school where the women worked ranged from US$18 to US$33 a day, but after a new software installation in 2016 began documenting cash intake, daily deposits went up to an av- erage of US$93 per day, and later US$183 per day. e sisters are denying the allegations, and Wil- son's attorney said the accusations were false and misleading: " ere is much more to this story." TURNING THE TABLES SAVANNAGH, GA. — A rude customer who thought he could get away with bad behaviour found the tables turned recently at a restaurant in Savannagh, Ga. Ryan Cherwinski — captured on surveillance video — walked by a waitress and groped her but- tocks. But Emilia Holden reacted quickly, grabbing the collar of his shirt and putting him into a chokehold before throwing him to the ground, according to the Independent. "I looked at him and I said, 'You don't touch me, motherfucker.' I didn't even think, I just reacted. I don't know how I reacted the way I did. I've never done that before," said Holden. After reviewing the video foot- age, the father of two was ar- rested and charged with sexual battery, spending two nights in jail. And when the video went vi- ral, Holden set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for a cause dear to her heart, looking to raise US$20,000 for cat shelters. NO FREE DRINKS ALLOWED LAS VEGAS — Over in Las Ve- gas, another restaurant employee also took it upon herself to teach a misbehaving customer a lesson, according to the Mirror. Erika Chavolla was working at a Mc- Donald's when she allegedly saw a customer fi ll her free water cup up with soda. When Sabrina Fon- telar was confronted, she threw a milkshake at Chavolla, then hit her with a metal tray and apparently insulted her mother. Video of the fi ght then shows Chavolla grab- bing Fontelar by the hair and re- peatedly punching her in the head, and then throwing her onto a table twice to throw more punches. An- other employee tried to intervene but the two continued grappling with each other before fi nally sim- mering down and walking away. Chavolla later boasted about the incident online and claimed she had kept her job at McDonald's. W EIRD ORKPLACE THE Vol. 31 No. 9 – September 2018 PUBLISHED BY Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 ©Copyright 2018 by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. CANADIAN HR REPORTER is published 12 times a year. Publications Mail – Agreement # 40065782 Registration # 9496 – ISSN 0838-228X Director, Media Solutions, Canada: Karen Lorimer - (416) 649-9411 karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com EDITORIAL Publisher/Editor in Chief: Todd Humber - (416) 298-5196 todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com Editor/Supervisor: Sarah Dobson - (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com News Editor Marcel Vander Wier - (416) 649-7837 marcel.vanderwier@thomsonreuters.com Employment Law Editor: Jeffrey R. 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Address changes and returns: Send changes and undeliverable Canadian addresses to: SUBSCRIBER SERVICES Canadian HR Reporter One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd. Toronto, ON M1T 3V4 CUSTOMER SERVICE Call: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5082 (Toronto) (877) 750-9041 (outside Toronto) Email: customersupport. legaltaxcanada@tr.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR todd.humber@thomsonreuters.com CHRR reserves the right to edit for length and clarity. Todd Humber EDITOR'S NOTES When profi ts and ethics clash D on't be evil. Those three words, famously embedded in Google's corporate code of con- duct, still top my list of best phras- es found anywhere in corporate- mission type language (admitted- ly a shallow fi eld.) ey're simple, straightforward, catchy. But evil is often interpreted through the eye of the beholder. Many of Google's current prac- tices could be viewed as some- where south of good, especially when viewed through a privacy lens. at's because Google has a staggering amount of data about individuals. Here's a snapshot of seven things I found that Google thinks it knows about me: 1. I'm male (check). 2. I'm 45 to 54 years old (check). 3. I'm interested in the New York Times, advertising and market- ing, football, audio equipment, Canada, beaches and islands (mostly true.) But clubs and nightlife show up, as does coun- try music (wrong). 4. It knows exactly where I live and work. 5. It knows I was at the cottage and a nearby microbrewery recently. 6. It knows every website I've visit- ed, from my search this morning on "cannabis in the workplace" (to see if Canadian HR Reporter's new page on the topic is showing up on page 1 — it is) to LinkedIn. 7. It knows I watched Jimmy Kim- mel's interview with Kanye West on the weekend, along with a Stephen Colbert sketch about Omarosa Manigault Newman. Many Google employees take the "don't be evil" mantra to heart. ey haven't been shy about peti- tioning their bosses to stop pro- grams and behaviour that seem to fall into that category. When news broke that Google might be developing a search en- gine for China that met the com- munist government's approval — by blocking some websites and search terms — employees responded. "Hundreds of employees have called on the company to provide more 'transparency, oversight and accountability,'" according to Re- uters, which saw an internal pe- tition by the workers last month. e petition complained that workers only found out about the rumoured Chinese ambitions through media reports. e activism has gone even fur- ther — staff have asked Google to "create an ethics review group with rank-and-fi le workers, ap- point ombudspeople to provide independent reviews and inter- nally publish assessments of proj- ects that raise substantial ethical questions," according to Reuters. at comes on the heels of an- other employee revolt at Google over the company's involvement in the Maven Project, a U.S. mili- tary initiative where it provided assistance in analyzing "imagery used for targeting drone strikes." Google cancelled its involve- ment after internal employee protests, noted Reuters. Amazon, Microsoft But it's not just Google. In June, Amazon workers penned a letter to CEO Jeff Bezos after it was re- vealed the company was selling its powerful facial recognition tech- nology to police and government. "We already know that in the midst of historic militarization of police, renewed targeting of black activists, and the growth of a fed- eral deportation force currently engaged in human rights abuses, this will be another powerful tool for the surveillance state, and ul- timately serve to harm the most marginalized," said the letter. It went on to point out that IBM's systems were used in the 1940s to help Adolf Hitler. "IBM did not take responsibil- ity then, and by the time their role was understood, it was too late," said the letter. "We will not let that happen again. e time to act is now." Microsoft workers also let management know they weren't happy with a US$20-million con- tract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE): "We believe that Microsoft must take an ethical stand, and put children and families above profi t. As the people who build the technologies that Micro- soft profi ts from, we refuse to be complicit. We are part of a growing movement, comprised of many across the industry who recognize the grave responsibil- ity that those creating powerful technology have to ensure what they build is used for good, and not for harm." In a jobseekers' market — with Canada's unemployment rate at 5.8 per cent — employees may feel more comfortable about speaking up or walking out the door if they don't like what they see. After all, there are 407,000 jobs in Canada that have been unfi lled for at least four months, according to the Ca- nadian Federation of Independent Business. Today's workers are increasing- ly comfortable speaking up when they see something that doesn't mesh with their morals and ethics. And in a tight labour market, this provides a real opportunity for organizations to position themselves as employers of choice and poach the top talent who not only have a moral compass, but incredible skills that can boost the bottom line. EGGED ON AT A&W CARDSON, ALTA. — Accusations of racism were recently levelled at an A&W in Cardson, Alta., after a customer claimed he was told he couldn't purchase food for a senior Indigenous woman standing nearby. e cashier refused Nick Driedger, citing a store policy about loi- tering and saying it was the store manager's orders, according to CBC. Driedger bought the food anyway, and later complained about the incident on social media. A&W responded on Twit- ter: "We're reaching out to the woman who's experiencing hardships to see how we can provide assistance, and we are sorry the kind off er by guests to buy her breakfast was not honoured… We are taking this incident very seriously and the franchisee is working with his staff to ensure they receive the training and support they need to do the right thing." Credit: P Maxwell Photography (Shutterstock) Accusations of racism were recently levelled at an A&W in Cardson, Alta., after a customer claimed he was told he couldn't purchase food for a senior Indigenous woman standing nearby. e cashier refused Nick Driedger, citing a store policy about loi- tering and saying it was the store manager's orders, according to CBC. Driedger bought the food anyway, and later complained about the incident on social media. A&W responded on Twit- ter: "We're reaching out to the woman who's experiencing hardships to see how we can provide assistance, and we are sorry the kind off er by guests to buy her breakfast was not honoured… We are taking this incident very seriously and the franchisee is working with his staff to ensure they receive the training and support they need to do the right thing." Credit: P Maxwell Photography (Shutterstock)

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