PM40065782
Emplo
y
ment Law Today
Canad ad a ian
www.employmentlawtoday.com
Harassment of female co-worker
warrants fi ring of 3 male CN employees
'Mobbing' behaviour of 3 male workers at female co-worker on track
maintenance crew beyond 'boys will be boys' justifi cation: Arbitrator
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
AN ARBITRATOR has upheld the fi ring
of three male Canadian National Railway
workers who harassed and bullied the lone
female worker on their crew.
Carol omas was a track maintenance
employee for Canadian National Railway
Company (CN) in Saskatchewan. In May
2017, omas returned to work after being
away on medical leave for nine months. She
was assigned to a railway track crew that in-
cluded track foreman Christian Hydemaka,
assistant track foreman Michael Siebeneich,
and machine operator Joel Hrycyk.
Soon after she joined the crew, omas
was in a truck driven by Siebeneich on the
way to a worksite. During the drive, Siebe-
neich was on his cellphone texting and us-
ing social media while expressing anger at
his job and co-workers. omas was wor-
ried about him texting and driving, but was
afraid to say anything to him because he was
already angry.
Workplace harassment: e fi ght continues
Harassment still a problem, hurting employers' ability to attract and
retain talent; Increased vigilance and proactive measures are helping
BY LAURA WILLIAMS
EVEN IF WE haven't experienced the be-
haviour fi rst-hand ourselves, most of us
have heard stories about a colleague who
was 'tough' to work with back in the day —
maybe even a little unhinged.
ey may recount stories of a manager
from whom they would regularly receive
verbal abuse, or even threats of termination.
Maybe it was an irate co-worker who would
threaten colleagues with violence from time
to time, or another who took it upon herself
to make 'undesirable' colleagues feel uncom-
fortable in the workplace just long enough
that they'd eventually quit.
While it's comforting to think of these
as quaint anecdotes of a time gone by, ex-
amples of these types of behaviours are still
common. Needless to say, organizations are
struggling to quell harassment in all forms.
According to a Statistics Canada study re-
leased in December, 19 per cent of women
and 13 per cent of men report being ha-
rassed in the workplace over the past year.
Verbal abuse was the most common form of
April 3, 2019
Employment in the AI era: The
constructive dismissal problem pg. 3
Changing roles due to automation without
proper notice or preparation could create
constructive dismissal liability
Employees fi red for improper
expense reports get big
damage awards pg. 4
New executive director
suspicious of business trip
TALL POPPY on page 6 »
WORKERS'
on page 7 »
CREDIT:
ANTONIO
GUILLEM/SHUTTERSTOCK
with Tim Mitchell
Ask the Expert pg. 2
Bad-faith dismissal with
generous severance
