PM41261516
Emplo
y
ment Law Today
Canadian
www.employmentlawtoday.com
Resignation and rehire not continuous employment
pg. 4
Ontario employee who resigned, was later rehired and
then dismissed by the same employer was not entitled
to notice based on entire length of service: court
B.C. employer's just-cause claim
against plumber goes down the drain
Plumber's previous side jobs had been allowed before being
terminated for breach of conflict-of-interest policy
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
A BRITISH COLUMBIA plumber whose side
jobs had been tacitly condoned by his employer was
wrongfully dismissed when the employer fired him
for additional side jobs without prior discipline, the
B.C. Supreme Court has ruled.
Christopher Booton, 42, was hired as a plumber
in October 2012 by Synergy Plumbing and Heating
in Burnaby, B.C. He performed plumbing, heating
and gas work for customers. At the time, Synergy
was co-owned by two brothers — Joe and Dennis
Guiotto. Joe bought his brother's share in the busi-
ness in 2016 after Dennis could no longer work due
to health issues.
When Booton was first hired, he didn't have a writ-
ten employment agreement with Synergy. However,
in May 2014, the company provided a written offer
Assault of patient spells end
of the road for Alberta paramedic
Assault of difficult patient, attempt to mislead investigation
provide just cause for dismissal
BY JEFFREY R. SMITH
AN ALBERTA paramedic who struck a pa-
tient who spit on him and then tried to down-
play the incident in the ensuing investigation
has had his dismissal upheld by an arbitrator
for failing to meet the high standards of trust
and conduct inherent to his position.
Gerrit-Dean Pinell, 36, worked as a para-
medic for Alberta Health Services (AHS) in
Calgary. Hired in early 2013, he had no dis-
ciplinary record with AHS. However, he ex-
perienced a few traumatic events during his
tenure with the organization. In November
2014, Pinell was part of a backup paramedic
crew that responded to a call in which his
brother died. About one month after that
incident, he was involved in a call in which a
child was murdered and began experiencing
symptoms consistent with post-traumatic
August 14, 2019
Feds aim to stamp out
workplace violence and
harassment pg. 3
New violence and harassment
prevention regulations
PARAMEDIC on page 6 »
CREDIT:
LIGHTFIELD
STUDIOS/SHUTTERSTOCK
CLIENT on page 7 »
with Leah Schatz
Ask the Expert pg. 2
Following the progressive
discipline process
