Canadian Safety Reporter

6 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2016 CSR | July 2016 | News 'Bullets' comment made in heat of illegal strike not harassment Comment and gun gesture were made in frustration; not every inappropriate comment is harassment under employer's policy, says arbitrator BY JEFFREY R. SMITH AN ARBITRATOR has deter- mined that the director of an Alberta correctional centre did not harass correctional officers about to go on an illegal strike when the director made a ges- ture like a gun and referred to having bullets for them. The Fort Saskatchewan Cor- rectional Centre in Fort Sas- katchewan, Alta., issued a sex- ual and workplace harassment policy in November 2012 that stated it was committed to pro- viding a "working environment free of harassment." The policy was zero-tolerance and defined workplace harassment as "un- welcome conduct that is offen- sive in nature and detrimentally affects the work environment or leads to adverse job-related con- sequences for the victims." The policy indicated key char- acteristics of harassment were one-sided conduct that was of- fensive and unwelcome, includ- ing remarks and physical assault. It also specifically excluded "the legitimate exercise of an individ- ual's supervisory authority." The centre followed up the re- lease of the policy with a booklet on maintaining a harassment- free workplace that stated that threatening behaviour and ver- bal or written threats consti- tuted workplace violence that also fell under the definition of harassment. In spring 2013, there was some labour unrest among the centre's correctional officers as their col- lective agreement approached expiry. On April 26, 2013, all the correctional officers on duty decided to leave their posts and take part in an illegal strike. In all, 30 officers walked out and left four members of manage- ment and a nurse in charge of more than 450 inmates. On the day the illegal strike started, the director of the centre approached a small group of cor- rectional officers as they were about to leave their posts. The group had gathered in a walkway leading to the centre's entrance. The director had just been in- formed of the walkout and was disappointed the officers were choosing this course of action. According to three of the of- ficers, Reddon came up to them, formed his hand into the shape of a gun and said words to the effect of "my gun is loaded and it has bullets in the chamber for each of you." A fourth officer heard the words but didn't see the gesture. Three of the officers felt the director was metaphorically threatening their jobs. However, a fourth officer felt the director was making a threat to his physi- cal safety and described it as a "death threat." The walkout lasted seven days and before the correctional offi- cers returned to work, they met with management to discuss an orderly return to work. The di- rector said the illegal strike was "water under the bridge" and they needed to move forward. However, the correctional of- ficer who had felt threatened in the walkway incident at the be- ginning of the strike wanted an explanation. The director didn't recall what he had said to the group of of- ficers but he said he apologized if he offended anyone and no ill will was intended. The officer appeared to accept the apology. Police and investigator found no harassment However, what the director didn't know at the time was that a couple of days earlier, the complaining officer had vis- ited the local detachment of the RCMP and made a complaint. He claimed he initially made the complaint just so it would be on file in case something else hap- pened at work later, but he later told the police to proceed with the investigation after he was fired with three other officers on Credit: Shutterstock/Anon Wangkheeree Context > pg. 7

• Cover