Canadian Employment Law Today

Canadian Employment Law Today | 7 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2019 More Cases tion assistants. NB Power decided to conduct a review of the timesheets submitted by all radiation protection assistants. e reviewer initially identifi ed two shifts claimed by Mendes for periods when the station logs indicated he wasn't physically present. e reviewer brought the issue to the attention of Mendes' shift supervisor, who took a closer look and identifi ed two other shifts that raised con- cerns. All of Mendes' timesheets dating back to when he started working at Point Lepreau were reviewed, which revealed 43 shifts Mendes claimed but didn't actually work. It was later determined that Mendes had failed to claim two shifts that he did work, so the total false shifts was reduced to 41. NB Power asked Atlantic Nuclear to re- move Mendes from the generating station, and Coor agreed that Mendes should be ter- minated. On July 6, 2009, Mendes arrived at Point Lepreau for a shift but was met by three armed security guards. e guards escorted him to a trailer, where Coor's technical and sales manager was waiting with a manager from Atlantic Nuclear. ey informed Mendes his employment was being terminated for sub- mitting false timesheets. ey gave Mendes a termination let- ter and a second document for him to sign, which stated that he had falsely recorded hours and he agreed to allow Coor to with- hold his wages from his last paycheque "as a downpayment towards what I owe Coor Nuclear Services." Mendes signed the letter. Coor — which later changed its name to Nuvia Canada — sued Mendes for fraud. e New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench found the employer proved the fraud and ordered Mendes to pay Nuvia more than $44,000 that he owed the company. Mendes appealed to the province's Court of Appeal, arguing that he had logs that had been sent to him by NB Power that showed he had worked the shifts in question. e Court of Appeal found discrepancies in the logs Mendes provided with NB Pow- er's, and called into question their credibility. ere were a number of spelling mistakes, the confi dentiality clause was English-only, the e-mail address of the NB Power employee who supposedly sent the logs was incorrect, and the email containing the logs was sent at a time the NB Power employee would have been at home. In addition, it was sent before the review was complete, so neither the NB Power employee nor Mendes would have known which shifts had been questioned. Mendes provided other emails as evidence that had similar errors, so the court found the evidence was not persuasive to change the trial court's decision. In fact, Mendes stated to the court that he had "produced these docu- ments for his case 'so it swings my way." e Court of Appeal noted that the docu- ment Mendes signed at his termination meeting wasn't valid as Mendes signed it with no notice, when he had just been told he was being terminated, and in the presence of armed guards. As a result, Coor/Nuvia and Atlantic Nuclear did not have permission to deduct anything from his wages. How- ever, Coor/Nuvia's claim against Mendes for fraud was legitmate and the trial court didn't make any errors in fi nding Mendes liable for more than $44,000 owed to the company. Mendes' appeal was dismissed. For more information see: • Mendes v. Nuvia Canada Inc., 2018 Car- swellNB 481 (N.B. C.A.). Review found 41 shifts that were claimed but not worked « from WORKER on page 1 THE CANNABIS CHANNEL.ca C C How will cannabis affect the workplace? The legalization of cannabis has posed many questions, and organizations like yours may still be adapting to a rapidly changing environment. Visit the website that provides reliable news, analysis, experts and resources for professionals looking for answers. TheCannabisChannel.ca

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