Canadian Employment Law Today

CANADIAN EMPLOYMENT LAW TODAY Health care aide done in by resident abuse allegations Dismissal not always appropriate for resident abuse but multiple incidents demonstrated pattern of misconduct: Arbitrator | BY JEFFREY R. SMITH | AN ARBITRATOR has upheld the dismissal of an Alberta health care aide who was fired for abuse of residents in the facility where she worked. Corinna Solodky, 41, was a health care aid at a long-term care facility operated by Bethany Care Society in JUST Airdrie, Alta. Most of the residence at the facility suffered from cognitive impairment that requires regular care from staff. Solodky began working at the Airdrie facility in December 2008. In October 2010, another aide who partnered with Solodky reported to her union shop steward — who then reported to facility management — two incidents involving Solodky and patients. In the first incident, Solodky was trying to move a patient with severe dementia from her bed to her wheelchair. The patient was shouting repeatedly and, according to the other aide, Solodky placed a sock over the patient's mouth and told her to "shut the f--- up already." In the second incident, another patient with dementia and incontinence urinated while Solodky was moving her from her wheelchair to bed. Solodky reportedly told the patient angrily to stop it and swore at the patient. Management investigated the incidents and the co-worker changed her report to say Solodky used part of the patient's skirt rather than a sock over her mouth, but later testified it was a sock, saying either way it was an article of clothing. Rumours of investigation brought forward more allegations After Bethany Care launched the investigation, another health care aide who had worked with Solodky came forward to report three incidents that disturbed her. On one occasion, while caring for the same resident from the first incident, Solodky told the resident to "shut up and stop yelling" and held the edge of the patient's skirt to her mouth. On another occasion, they entered the room of a patient with CAUSE dementia who had soiled himself. Solodky reportedly swore and told the patient he stunk. Later, the aide reported Solodky told another patient the same thing in a similar situation. The aide testified she was shocked and couldn't believe Solodky's behaviour, which is why she didn't report it until she was asked if she had witnessed any inappropriate conduct by Solodky. The rumours of an incident involving Solodky spread around the Airdrie facility and another health care aide, who worked part-time and had partnered with Solodky, reported two other incidents. They were attending to a patient with dementia and, according to the aide, Solodky said loudly, "I hate this woman, she acts like such a princess." Another time she reportedly told a male patient who was making noises to "stop your moaning and groaning, you old grump. You sound like a god-damned woman." Bethany Care held an investigative meeting on Nov. 15, 2010, and Solodky said taking care of the residents was "meaningful" to her and she recognized they deserved dignity and respect. She denied doing any of things she was accused of and claimed she was "completely shocked and confused" by the allegations. She said she didn't consider herself a "vulgar person" but said "we all swear a bit, but it's very rare that the F-word gets dropped in my vocabulary." In particular, she emphatically denied muffling a patient's mouth with a piece of clothing and added that "my partner isn't innocent." She expanded on this by alleging that her partner had been the one that "shoved a skirt" into the patient's mouth. Bethany Care wrapped the investigation and determined Solodky was guilty of the misconduct reported by her co-workers. The misconduct involved multiple incidents against vulnerable patients and violated Bethany Care's code of conduct and the employer felt she had acted dishonestly by denying everything. It felt it couldn't trust her to act properly in the future, Solodky's employment was terminated on Nov. 22, 2010, after which the union filed a grievance. The union claimed Bethany Care's workforce was "plagued by division into cliques" and this contributed to false accusations against Solodky, who wasn't friends with her accusers. The union also argued Bethany Care was inconsistent in its discipline for resident abuse, citing a previous incident where a resident kicked and slapped an aide and the aide responded by slapping the patient back. The aide was contrite and remorseful and Bethany Care felt it was an impulsive action that was unlikely to happen again, so it gave the aide a written warning. The arbitrator found most of the coworkers who made the allegations were credible and had little reason to lie, with the exception of the one who reported the second incident of holding a skirt to a patient's mouth and the comments that a patient smelled bad. These allegations were vague and there were holes in her story, said the Published by Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2013 Continued on page 11 7

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