Canadian Employment Law Today

Canadian HR Reporter, 2021 standards for telephone banking. The worker supervised a team of between 12 and 15 fi- nancial services representatives (FSRs). CIBC has a code of conduct that emphasizes the high level of trust between the bank and its employees with the community. Team leaders are held to even higher standards, as they serve as role models for FSRs and are expected to en - sure employees uphold the standards of con- duct and maintain confidentiality with cus- tomer information. The worker's employment agreement incorporated the code of conduct and stated that just cause for dismissal includ- ed "dishonesty, failure to perform your duties in a satisfactory manner or a material breach of the terms and conditions of your employment, including any applicable code of conduct." The worker was in a relationship with a co- worker at the telephone banking centre until Jan. 4, 2016, when her partner physically as - saulted her. This led to him being charged by police, after which he was released and re- turned to work. The worker advised her senior manager that her relationship had ended, her ex had been physically abusive and he was ha- rassing her in the workplace. Worker breached confidentiality CIBC investigated and advised the worker not to speak to two employees whose names she had submitted as witnesses who could corrob- orate her harassment claim, as they would be interviewed in the investigation. However, the investigation determined that the worker had in fact talked to one of the witnesses the night before his interview and the only information the witness was able to provide in the investi - gative interview was what the worker had told him. When CIBC interviewed the worker's ex, he mentioned that the worker had disclosed confidential things about co-workers to him. When he gave examples, it was information that he could not have known unless the work - er told him. He also said that the worker was using and possessed drugs in the workplace. CIBC asked the worker about sharing infor- mation about co-workers with her ex, to which she said, "I'm sure I said things that I shouldn't have — likely said too much." There was no evidence about her using drugs and the worker was upset that her ex made the unfounded al - legations. On Jan. 24, the worker went off work on short-term disability for four months. CIBC continued the investigation, during which oth - er employees accused the worker of working as a stripper while she was on sick leave. CIBC was obligated to investigate this, which turned out to be false. The employees who made the ac - cusation were disciplined. She returned on a part-time basis in May and full-time in June and CIBC accommodated her by scheduling her on an offset schedule from her ex. She later requested to work the same schedule as him, saying her ex was no longer bullying her and "as long as he does not bother me at work it will be fine." On July 16, the worker requested a transfer to another call centre, but CIBC denied the request because she was under discipline for breaching confidentiality in the investigation back in January. She was given a formal disci - plinary letter on July 26 that stated: "your lack of judgment and breaches of confidentiality are unacceptable and cannot happen again." The letter also outlined the specific element of the code of conduct that the worker breached and warned that similar breaches would lead to further disciplinary action up to and includ - ing termination of employment. Disagreement with client On Nov. 7, 2016, an FSR told the worker that a client on the phone was looking for help with a refund of charges applied to an account that were the result of him being in a mental in - stitution. The client felt that the refusal to re- imburse the charges was making his mental illness worse and asked to speak to a supervi- sor. The worker told the client that CIBC wasn't willing to reimburse him and "we all have our issues" and "I don't want to discuss mental ill- ness anymore." She put him on hold at vari- ous times and made comments about the call being stupid and that "some people feel enti- tled… I don't even think he's mentally ill." She made some other comments and ended the call by calling the client "rucking idiot." Several other employees, including FSRs and other team leaders, overheard the comments and reported the call to management. The worker approached another team leader and asked if she was going to "tell on her," then left work and called in sick the next day. CIBC terminated the worker's employment on Nov. 9 for multiple violations of the code of conduct and the worker filed a complaint of unjust dismissal under the Canada Labour Code. The adjudicator agreed that the worker's handling of the telephone call was a serious breach of CIBC's code of conduct and harmed her credibility for instructing and assisting FSRs in handling customer calls. The call couldn't be considered a momentary lapse as it lasted 21 minutes and the worker made com - ments to others while the client was on hold as well as to the client. In addition, there was no evidence her behaviour on the call could be connected to the stress the worker may have been experiencing from her other issues, said the adjudicator. The adjudicator noted that the worker had previous discipline, including her breach of privacy and the code of conduct during the harassment investigation in January 2016, for which she was warned about future miscon - duct. The worker had also received three previ- ous warning letters in 2010 and 2011, for not answering a call, breaching privacy for giving another client's RRSP account number with- out confirming the caller's identity and using inappropriate language in the workplace. The adjudicator determined that the work- er's conduct on the phone call was serious enough to provide just cause — particularly given the high standard of conduct for CIBC employees and team leaders — she had been previously disciplined and warned about her misconduct and given a chance to improve, and her harassment and personal issues had nothing to do with the misconduct. The termi - nation was upheld and the worker's complaint was dismissed. For more information, see: • Crawford and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Re, 2020 CarswellNat 6041 (Can. Lab. Code Adj.). 6 | | May 5, 2021 May 5, 2021 « from CIBC on page 1 Team leaders expected to be role models and uphold standards of conduct Cases and Trends Cases and Trends The client call was a serious breach of CIBC's code of conduct and harmed the team leader's credibility with subordinates. Employment law blog Canadian Employment Law Today invites you to check out its employment law blog, where editor Jeffrey R. Smith discusses recent cases and developments in employment law. The blog features topics such as cutting pay during the COVID-19 crisis, when accommodation is too difficult and legal considerations for returning employees to the workplace. You can view the blog at www. employmentlawtoday.com. CELT_Issue_30 MAY 5 FINAL.indd 6 CELT_Issue_30 MAY 5 FINAL.indd 6 4/21/2021 4:04:05 AM 4/21/2021 4:04:05 AM

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