Canadian Employment Law Today

PM40065782 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad ad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com October 28, 2015 Worker fi red after illegally juicing AN ARBITRATOR has upheld the dis- missal of an Ontario worker who stole juice from the company cafeteria on multiple oc- casions. e 42-year-old worker was employed with Messier-Dowty, a manufacturer of air- craft landing gear in Ajax, Ont. He was hired in 1997. e company had a cafeteria at its facility that it subsidized so it ran on a break- even basis. Employees either paid for their items up front or ran a tab that was settled at the end of each week. In mid-December 2014, another em- ployee informed Messier-Dowty's human resources manager that the worker had been eating soup and drinking juice from the caf- eteria without paying for it. e HR manager spoke to the chef, who said he was "sort of aware" of the situation but had been too busy to deal with it. In addition, the refrigerator where the juice and other drinks were kept was out of the sight for cafeteria staff . e chef and the cashier were told to keep track of the worker's purchases. On Dec. 16, the HR manager observed the worker leaving the cafeteria. e chef told him the worker had removed an or- ange juice from the refrigerator as he left, which he had not paid for. A check of the purchase showed no juice on the bill, but the HR manager saw a juice bottle on the worker's desk with the other items he had bought for lunch. e next day, the HR manager saw the worker walk by with a meal package, coff ee and a juice. When he checked the cashier, he discovered the worker had purchased the meal and coff ee but no juice. On Dec. 18, the worker was leaving the cafeteria with a meal package, coff ee and juice. He saw the HR manager, held up the juice bottle and motioned to the cashier to add it to his tab. e cashier said the worker had never done that before. On Dec. 19, the worker was observed by another employee with a meal, coff ee and juice but had only paid for the meal and cof- fee. at same day, the HR manager convened an investigation interview with the worker. e worker seemed surprised that he was being accused of taking things from the caf- eteria without paying. He denied stealing Long-time public servant awarded more notice after dismissal pg. 3 Employee had held other provincial and federal jobs with Tim Mitchell CREDIT: CPAULFELL/SHUTTERSTOCK The good fi ght against workplace bullies pg. 4 4 strategies to help mitigate the risk to employers posed by workplace bullying and harassment BOTH on page 6 » ASK AN EXPERT pg. 2 Is nicotine addiction a disability? WORKER on page 7 » Pilot's wrongful dismissal claim crash lands Not only does court dismiss claims of wrongful dismissal and harassment, but orders fi red employee to pay $23,000 in training costs BY JEFFREY R. SMITH A BRITISH COLUMBIA court has dis- missed a wrongful dismissal claim from a pilot who was fi red during her probationary period and ordered the pilot to pay more than $23,000 to the employer for training expenses. Valerie Langford was a pilot hired as a fi rst offi cer with Carson Air on Aug. 15, 2012. She had experience fl ying jet aircraft and gliders and also instructed other pilots in Canada, the U.S., New Zealand, and Europe. Her pre- vious positions included work as a fi rst of- fi cer and a captain. Based in Kelowna, B.C., Carson Air pro- vided medical evacuation and other airline services throughout B.C. and Alberta. Lang- ford was hired to be a fi rst offi cer on air am- bulance fl ights with a six-month probation- ary period. Performance reviews would be

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