Canadian Labour Reporter

8 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2018 January 15, 2018 ARBITRATION AWARDS written the acronym, commonly known at the workplace as mean- ing "Fuck Mike Misner," due to his tough and demanding nature. Misner found Brock Ritchie and Diane Clarke were clean- ing the annex nearby where the graffiti was found. According to Ritchie, Misner confronted him, poked him in the chest and kicked him in his heels as he walked away. Ritchie also said he put his hands in the air and said, "Don't touch me," to Misner. All claims were denied by Misner, who tes- tified he was tough with Ritchie because he was known to be "lazy." The following day, after con- sulting with a steward, Ritchie wrote an email to Misner to com- plain about his treatment and said, "I felt threatened, intimi- dated, bullied and shocked. Even now, hours later, I am equal parts shaken, confused and distraught." Ritchie CCed four members of management, who were based in Cargill's Winnipeg head office. Ritchie also referenced an inci- dent from March 12 in which he accused Misner of being "wild- eyed and breathless" during an- other confrontation in a stairwell. Considering it was a serious charge of physical assault against a manager, Cargill conducted an investigation employing Suzanne Kennedy, an outside consultant. Kennedy conducted interviews with the relevant parties, while Misner was sent home with pay. On May 4, Kennedy submitted a report that found the stairwell incident did not constitute harass- ment and the annex case was not as Ritchie described it. Kennedy testified Ritchie never requested he not work with Misner in future, or that Misner be disciplined. While on shift May 14, Ritchie went into the supervisor's office and saw Misner present. Ritchie said he was surprised to see him back as nobody had told him. Ritchie later cut himself on a door and received medical atten- tion. He also passed out due to what he said was stress at seeing Misner back on the job. He took a few weeks off for medical leave. On June 17, a meeting was held and Ritchie was informed of Ken- nedy's findings. He said he didn't agree with the report, but he would "abide by it" and he would be "working hard" to help get over his feelings about Misner. But on June 29, Ritchie was terminated via letter that stated: "Cargill has concluded that the employee-employer relationship is damaged beyond repair." The following day, the Grain Workers' Union (GWU), Local 333, grieved the decision. "Brock was terminated unjustly, due to reporting a confrontation be- tween him and a supervisor." Arbitrator Arne Peltz dismissed the grievance. "Having found (Ritchie's) complaint to be inten- tionally false, I am driven to con- clude that the termination must be upheld." Management did try to re- pair the situation during the June meeting, said the arbitrator. But it fell on deaf ears. "He was expect- ing an explanation, if (Ritchie) stood by the complaint, as to how (Ritchie) could earn back a mea- sure of trust. At the very least, (general manager Gerry) Dickie expected some mitigating com- ments, such as for example an admission that the annex incident had been exaggerated." All blame for the outcome should be placed squarely on Ritchie, according to Peltz. "While the ultimate conse- quences are very unfortunate for (Ritchie), he bears responsibil- ity for choosing to make a false allegation of grave misconduct against his supervisor." Reference: Cargill Ltd. and Grain Workers' Union, Local 333. Arne Peltz — arbitrator. Peter Csiszar for the employer. Charles Gordon for the employee. Dec. 5, 2017. 2017 CarswellNat 7086 a.m. that morning, the school had placed pylons blocking access to the parking lot. It was a regular oc- currence meant to protect children who would play near the lot before going into the school at 8:30 a.m. Carolyn Champagne, a teacher at Beechville, was on yard duty that day. Her job was to prevent any parents from entering the parking lot. She testified that on that day, Crawford drove through the py- lons and parked her car. Caretaker Bob Thistle and Champagne un- successfully tried to stop her. They told Crawford that she couldn't park there, but Crawford got out of the car with her son and a microwave that she said she was delivering for her son to heat up his own lunches. Crawford then went directly to Lisa Banks, a learning centre teacher, who worked directly with her son. Crawford was angry that the previous day her son had been sent to a time-out room alone, af- ter he became agitated. According to an individual as- sessment plan (IAP), Crawford's son was not supposed to be sent to time-out rooms. Banks testi- fied that Crawford said to her, "I'm feeling like I want to bust you up... I'm feeling like I will lose it." Nothing further came of the in- teraction after more students and teachers filed into the school. After an investigation, Craw- ford was barred from the school property for six months begin- ning on Nov. 6. On Oct. 27, a meeting was held between Crawford and Charelle Maillet, the school boards co-or- dinator of human resources, and Paula Hadley, human resources manager. Crawford apologized for her actions at Beechville and said she did not threaten Banks that morning. She said that she also suffered from ADHD and OCD and was receiving regular treatment, which explained her actions. A letter was presented to her that said, "If you have thorough and complete medical explanation to explain why you denied all of the al- legations and why you acted as you did on Oct. 27, 2015, the board is willing to review that information." Crawford's doctor sent a letter confirming the diagnoses, but the board rejected them and said via an email sent Nov. 17 that the let- ter did not "provide explanation to support Crawford's actions nor her explanations in the investiga- tion meeting." Since it was the third time she had been cited as causing a distur- bance at her son's school, Craw- ford was terminated. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 5047, grieved the decision and argued Crawford's actions were not job- related. Arbitrator Augustus Richard- son upheld the grievance and or- dered a suspension be substituted for termination. "While it is apparent that (Crawford) needed a reminder of her duty to act in an appropriate manner that was sharper than a one-day unpaid suspension, a leap to termination strikes me as an unnecessarily harsh progression in discipline," said Richardson. "(Crawford's) questioning of her son's teacher was fully ex- plained and justified by her role as a parent and her understanding as to what had happened the day be- fore," said Richardson. But it was a misunderstand- ing that led to the overly strong response from the school board, said Richardson. "Banks' written statement made a few hours after the incident was that (Crawford) 'Told me that she was feeling like she wanted to 'bust me up':' ," said Richardson. "That is not quite the same as — nor as bad as — what Maillet thought had been said, which was 'I'm going to bust you up.' The dif- ference is subtle but important, since it converts a statement of feeling into a statement of intent. " Reference: Halifax Regional School Board and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local 5047. Augustus Richardson — arbitrator. Ian Pickard, Leah Kutcher for the employer. Karen MacKenzie for the employee. Nov. 20, 2017. 2017 CarswellNS 904 Worker 'shaken, confused and distraught' after incident < Teaching assistant pg. 1 < False allegations pg. 1

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