Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER MARCH 2019 26 INSIGHT HIDDEN ENEMY OTTAWA — Five Canadian diplomats and their families who were posted in Cuba are suing Ottawa for more than $28 million. Why? ey say the government failed to protect them, hid crucial information and downplayed the seriousness of the risks when they became ill, according to the Canadian Press. e nine adults and fi ve children suff ered symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, headaches and trouble concentrating when posted in Cuba. e mysterious illness has plagued U.S. and Canadian diplomats for multiple years, with possible causes of the acoustic or microwave affl iction including unknown contaminants or chirping crickets. Toxins or sonic attacks have been ruled out, however. Almost a year ago, Canada said dependants would no longer accompany diplomats posted to Cuba because of the uncertainty. POISONED RELATIONSHIP TORONTO — ey say drink- ing water is good for you, but that wasn't the case for one Hudson's Bay employee, according to the CBC. Matsa Beliashvili worked in Toronto as a business manager at the Estée Lauder counter. She regularly drank water from a glass canteen, but in September 2018, she started to experience bouts of nausea, headaches and skin irritations. When she started us- ing a new water bottle, that didn't help so in January, Beliashvili left her water container overnight on a counter at work. e next day, security footage showed a col- league spraying Lysol directly into the bottle. "We had to work on a daily basis together," said Beliash- vili. "I could never imagine that someone would be full of hate to this extent. It's shocking." e woman has been charged with ad- ministering a noxious substance with intent to cause bodily harm and mischief to interfere with property. WATCH YOUR TOES BUDAPEST — Despite the many glitches, employers continue to experiment with robots in the workplace. e latest is a café in Budapest, where robots serve up food and drink to customers, ac- cording to Reuters. Opened by IT company E-Szoftverfejleszto, the Enjoy Budapest Café is staff ed by a team of robots that can also tell jokes, dance with children or chat with customers. e robot waiters follow a set path to make their de- liveries, so customers are advised to keep out of the way. And work- ers will be happy to hear they are not being replaced. "We actually employ twice as many people as before, because to operate 16 to 20 robots from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., we need to have IT specialists in the background," said café owner Tibor Csizmadia. THANKS… BUT NO, THANKS OLDHAM, U.K. — Despite being off ered a job, a woman recently turned down the opportunity because she found the interview process "humiliating." Twenty- two-year-old graduate Olivia Bland applied for a job at Web Applications UK but underwent a challenging second interview with the CEO, according to MSN. e "brutal" episode lasted two hours and Craig Dean "tore both me and my writing to shreds (and called me an underachiever)," she said. Bland declined the job the next day in an email posted on Twitter, calling Dean "a man who tries his best to intimidate and as- sert power over a young woman." She said the CEO tore her down to build her back up again, by tell- ing her she wasn't good enough and detailing exactly why, while quizzing the candidate about her childhood and parents. Bland later tweeted: "You may have free juice and yoga on Mondays but you cer- tainly don't have respect for your potential employees. Your CEO should be ashamed of himself." Dean apologized on Twitter, say- ing he had "no desire to see anyone hurt; and can only apologise if any- thing I've done has had that eff ect; it was not my intent." RETRO JOB AD LONDON — A Valentine's deal for HSBC employees was not so sweet for many. Staff were off ered discounted laptops and head- phones "for him" — but vacuum cleaners and kitchen appliances "for her," according to Reuters. e multi-page ad was produced and sent to employees of the bank by HKT, owned by Hong Kong con- glomerate PCCW. HSBC staff in London and Hong Kong criticized the off er, and were sent an apology. "We have heard the feedback and off er our heartfelt apologies for any off ence caused," said HKT. "We fi rmly believe in gender equality in both the workplace and in life, and we are committed to ensuring that we, and our business partners, exercise prudence, respect and in- clusion for all." HSBC also said it "is committed to gender diversity in the workplace." Vol. 32 No. 3 – March 2019 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 A termination, with gunshots I love you. I've been shot at work." ose were the last words of Josh Pinkard, the plant manager at Henry Pratt in Aurora, Ill., who was gunned down by an employee who had just been fi red from his job. ey came via a text message to his wife, Terra. Pinkard was one of fi ve people killed during a rampage by Gary Martin at the factory during and after a termination meeting with HR on Feb. 15. Workplace shootings in the United States have lost their abil- ity to shock. ey're depressingly commonplace. There are too many to list in any sort of work- able format. I Googled the topic and instantly found a headline from the Atlanta Journal-Consti- tution from Sept. 20, 2018, with the headline " ere have been 3 workplace shootings in 24 hours." Canada is not immune. In 2014, an employee at Western Forest Products killed two co-workers and wounded two others. In 1999, a former OC Transpo worker shot six people, killing four, at a garage at the Ottawa transit authority. For HR, that is the nightmare scenario. HR professionals know all too well the gamut of emotions that run through a termination meeting. Work, after all, is a de- fi ning characteristic in our lives. Losing it can be shocking — the feelings of rejection, the question- ing of your self-worth and the fi - nancial uncertainty all wash over you at the same time. Some people are genuinely relieved. Some are even happy. Many are shocked. Most are up- set. Some cry, some rationalize. And yes, some lash out — usually with words, rarely with fi sts or weapons. ere are best practices in con- ducting termination meetings, and it's hard to poke holes in what the team at Henry Pratt did from what has been revealed so far. Back in 2014, the unthinkable happened during a termination meeting at Ceridian's offi ces in Toronto. Chuang Li grabbed a pair of scissors and stabbed and injured four of his co-workers. At that time, we asked the ex- perts — what can HR do to pre- vent these incidents? A quick rundown: Watch for warning signs: Any abnormal behaviour in an employee, such as changes in work performance or personal- ity. Moodiness, defensiveness, punctuality issues, inconsistency, an uptick in customer complaints were among the list. Conduct a violence risk screening: If the above behav- iours are present, then gather HR and the person's direct supervisor to discuss the situation. "What is the level of this ab- normal or aberrant behaviour?" David Hyde, a security consultant and threat and risk assessor, told Canadian HR Reporter. "How concerning is it? How out of character is it? Are there other catalysts in this person's life that we're aware of?" If the answer is yes, then a refer- ral to an employee assistance pro- gram (EAP) should be considered. And if the threat of violence seems real, then perhaps law enforce- ment should be consulted. Pay attention to the room: e location where the termina- tion takes place matters. David Griffi n, a former cop, said you should examine location, and the layout of the room and seating. "Are there any objects in the room that could be used to hurt someone?" he said. ere should be a phone in the room, perhaps even a panic but- ton, and the door should not have a lock on it. But can any planning account for a disgruntled employee with a gun? In addition to killing fi ve employees, Martin also didn't hesitate to shoot and injure fi ve police offi cers. In that scenario, with a man hell-bent on devastation and undeterred by police presence, would having a cop in the room have made a diff erence? You simply can't have armed guards at every termination meeting. I'm connecting some dots that aren't clear yet from the facts — but the list of victims sounds like everyone you would want and expect in the termination room. An HR professional. e union rep. e plant manager. An HR intern — on the fi rst day of his placement. Martin, from published re- ports, was in the fi nal stage of progressive discipline. So he likely knew what was coming. While we don't know the facts of his case, the point is that — on the surface — it looks like the company was trying to handle a diffi cult situation in the appropri- ate manner. Let's remember the victims here: Josh Pinkard, 37, the plant manager; Clayton Parks, 32, the HR manager; Trevor Wehner, 21, an HR intern and Northern Il- linois University senior; Vicente Juarez, 54, a forklift operator; and Russell Beyer, 47, the plant's union chair. How do you stop a man with a gun who is determined to shoot and kill? I don't have the answers, short of stricter gun control. Here's what I can say: Nobody should ever have to type the words that Pinkard struggled to send to the love of his life while he lay dying. Credit: julio echandia (Shutterstock) W EIRD ORKPLACE THE Five Canadian diplomats and their families who were posted in Cuba are suing Ottawa for more than $28 million. Why? ey say the government failed to protect them, hid crucial information and downplayed the seriousness of the risks when they became ill, according to the Canadian Press. e nine adults and fi ve children suff ered symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, headaches and trouble concentrating when posted in Cuba. e mysterious illness has plagued U.S. and Canadian diplomats for multiple years, with possible causes of the acoustic or microwave affl iction including unknown contaminants

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