Canadian Safety Reporter

3 No charity for worker with safety concerns about basement workspace Evidence showed worker's complaints played a role in her dismissal a short time later BY JEFFREY R. SMITH AN ONTARIO CHARITABLE so- ciety must pay a former employ- ee $15,000 for her dismissing her as a reprisal for the employee's health and safety complaints, the Ontario Labour Relations Board has ruled. Leah Podobnik worked with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Stores, a Roman Catholic charitable organization that ran three stores in Ottawa stocked with various types of goods do- nated by the public and whose proceeds supported summer camps, soup kitchens, and over- seas missions. Hired in 2011, Podobnik was a supervisor of the book room at one of St. Vin- cent's stores downtown, where donated used books were orga- nized for sale in the main store. She was responsible for sorting, assessing, and pricing the books, as well as discarding any that were in poor condition. Podobnik initially had as many as four employees plus some volunteers under her su- pervision, but this was cut to one employee. She also organized community side projects, such as a children's literary program at a local school and a reading program for seniors. Since she began working in the book room, Podobnik raised concerns with the society about the air quality, as it was in the basement of the store. She wanted the air tested, but this didn't happen. Early in 2014 there was sewer leakage that led to the odour of sewer gas, even after the leakage was repaired The odour was worst in the el- evator, so Podobnik used the staircase to transport books to the main floor store. There was no joint health and safety com- mittee at the store. In January 2015, Podobnik's hours were reduced from 40 hours per week to 32 as the soci- ety tried to cut costs. In spring 2015, Podobnik had had enough with the air quality in the book room and contacted the Ministry of Labour to make a health and safety complaint. An inspector assessed the store's basement and issued 12 orders to the society relating to compli- ance under the Ontario Occupa- tional Health and Safety Act. By September, the society still hadn't complied with the order to have a joint health and safety commit- tee, so a forum was set for work- ers to choose one. Podobnik was elected to be the worker member on the committee. An industrial hygienist also inspected the basement book room and ordered the air quality be improved. On Oct. 18, 2015, the one employee Podobnik supervised was re-assigned to the trucking department to help pick up and deliver donations, which hap- pened occasionally as neces- sary. This left Podobnik alone to process books, but the day before a large donation of 30 boxes of books had arrived and Podobnik felt this was an "in- surmountable task" and a safety hazard. Podobnik contacted the assistant manager and said she couldn't process so many books and she would call the Ministry of Labour if necessary. The assistant manager is- sued her a disciplinary warn- ing, as Podobnik was raising her voice and refusing to pro- cess the books alone. When she discussed it with the society's executive director, he told her if she felt the work was unsafe, she should just quit. Podobnik replied that he was trying to in- timidate her. The next day, the executive director announced the society would be restructuring and ex- panding. The basement book room was being amalgamated with the housewares depart- ment and Podobnik would no longer be a supervisor, instead reporting to the manager of housewares. Podobnik had no warning of the change and felt shamed at her public demotion. On Nov. 10, the society termi- nated Podobnik's employment, Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2017 News | January 2017 | CSR Credit: Shutterstock/Africa Studio Worker > pg. 7 When the worker discussed her safety concerns with the executive director, he told her if she felt the work was unsafe she should just quit.

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