Canadian Employment Law Today

PM40065782 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad ad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com Disrespectful probationary employee fi red for cause Failure to follow expectations outlined in non-disciplinary letter BY JEFFREY R. SMITH AN ARBITRATOR has upheld the fi ring of a British Columbia university staff member who received a non-disciplinary letter that outlined how he shouldn't conduct himself while still on his probationary period. Robert Krausz was an instructor in adult basic education (ABE). In September 2015, he was hired as an ABE instructor by Van- couver Island University at its campus in Nanaimo, B.C. According to the collective agreement, such positions had a one-year probationary period that could be extended an additional six months if required. Krausz also was appointed ABE chair at the university's campus in Powell River, B.C., in January 2016. Soon after, he began plan- ning for the fall term. Normally, scheduling the ABE program was a collaborative process with the four instructors in the department — many had other teaching commitments — but Krausz developed the 2016 schedule on his own. A long-time instructor at the campus, Zora Soprovich, had a confl ict with her teaching schedule as a faculty association instructor as well as her schedule sharing a car with her spouse. She also felt the time slot for ABE courses proposed by Krausz wasn't convenient for students with children. Soprovich suggested alternatives, but Krausz submitted a fi nal draft that had fur- ther changed and ignored her concerns. Soprovich had also taken exception to an email Krausz had sent to the faculty dean requesting budget information that stated he had "unanimous agreement and support from my entire instructor team." She didn't support him and believed others didn't either. e campus administrator agreed the class times would be a problem for students with children and proposed a schedule with White employees at B.C. resort get $200,000 for race discrimination Chinese owner said he wanted to get rid of white employees, then brought in cheaper Chinese workers to do their jobs BY JEFFREY R. SMITH A BRITISH COLUMBIA resort and its Chinese owner must pay almost $200,000 in damages for race discrimination to seven Caucasian workers who quit or were fi red over a couple of days and were replaced by Chinese workers, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has ruled. Spruce Hill Resort is a wilderness resort in rural British Columbia that includes cabins, motel rooms, restaurants, a spa, and fi tness facilities. In 2015, Kin Wa Chan purchased the company that owns Spruce Hill and as- sumed control of the resort. Soon after, the resort scheduled renovations starting in Jan- uary 2016 that would last about six months. Because of the renovations, Spruce Hill had to run at reduced capacity and laid off some employees as a result. Melonie Eva began working at Spruce Hill as the general manager in January 2016 at the start of the renovations. She was re- February 20, 2019 The top 10 of 2018 pg. 3 Key employment and labour law developments have set the tone for 2019 Political discourse in the workplace: Risking discrimination and alienation pg. 4 NEW WORKERS on page 6 » BEHAVIOUR on page 7 » CREDIT: DMITRY KALINOVSKY/SHUTTERSTOCK with Brian Johnston Ask the Expert pg. 2 Requiring job applicants to be citizens or permanent residents

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