PM41261516
Emplo
y
ment Law Today
Canad ad a ian
www.employmentlawtoday.com
Garbage collector canned
for procedure violations, dishonesty
Misconduct included unsafe reversing of vehicle, damaging equipment
and lying about it; just cause despite two decades of service
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
A MUNICIPAL garbage collector who vio-
lated standard operating procedures, tried
to cover it up and then justify it was deserv-
ing of dismissal, according to an Ontario
arbitrator.
e worker was employed with the City of
Hamilton, Ont., operating a waste collection
vehicle every Monday through ursday
with a diff erent route in a diff erent vehicle on
Fridays. e Monday-to- ursday vehicle
was a "two-man rear packer" that involved
another employee accompanying him on
the route — one would drive and the other
would collect garbage.
e worker and his partner worked from
7 a.m. to 3 p.m., fi nishing up by dumping the
garbage they collected at a transfer station.
e city's garbage collection department
had an unwritten policy for vehicle opera-
Ontario inn checks out before
investigating harassment complaint
Dismissal of teenaged housekeeper following complaint
without investigating was a reprisal: Arbitrator
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
AN ONTARIO inn wrongfully dismissed a
teenaged housekeeper after she complained
of harassment from her supervisor's sister,
an arbitrator has ruled.
e now-19-year-old worker was a part-
time housekeeper at the Cooper River Inn, a
hotel and conference centre in Fort Frances,
Ont. When she started working for the inn
on Oct. 8, 2016, she was subject to a three-
month probationary period. e collective
agreement between the inn and its union
stipulated that termination during the proba-
tionary period would be subject only to em-
ployment standards legislation and could not
be grieved.
e worker was 17 years old when she be-
gan her employment and it was her fi rst job.
It wasn't long after she started — November
2016 while she was still a probationary em-
ployee — when the worker complained to
her supervisor that she had been harassed by
another housekeeper on several occasions.
e harassing behaviour involved, accord-
ing to the worker, screaming and swearing
at her about the quality of her work in front
July 17, 2019
Making sense of
termination clauses pg. 3
To sever or include
minimum entitlements?
Canada Post worker gets $38,000 for
pause in accommodation process pg. 4
Corporation made efforts to fi nd modifi ed
work, but took 5-month break
WORKER FIRST on page 6 »
CREDIT:
ZULASHAI/SHUTTERSTOCK
OWNER on page 7 »
with Brian Johnston
Ask the Expert pg. 2
Service time for employee transferring
to different franchise location
