A snowplow driver’s bad driving record, not his workplace violence complaint, was the reason for his dismissal, the Ontario Labour Relations Board has decided.
Vehicle safety and safe road conduct were important to the employee’s employer, a contractor. In January 2015, the employee had a single vehicle accident while driving the snowplow, which spun around, crossed the road and landed in the ditch on the opposite side of the road. Three weeks later he had another single vehicle accident; while he was driving the snowplow partially off the asphalt, he drove into the ditch. The two accidents cost the company more than $20,000.00.
After the second accident, the police and fire department arrived. Shortly afterwards, three employees of the company arrived. The employee and one of his coworkers had a verbal altercation. The employee claimed that his coworker “head-butted him in the face”. However, when the employee was taken to the hospital he initially reported to hospital admissions that he had hit his face on the door of the truck. A few days later, the company dismissed him.
The employee claimed that he was dismissed in retaliation for raising safety issues (the head-butt incident, which he said was workplace violence). The OLRB dismissed the complaint, noting that the employer had investigated the incidents and had decided, in good faith, that the employee was at fault. After the first incident, the employer gave him a “final warning”. The OLRB was satisfied that the decision to dismiss him was based solely on the “at fault” accidents.
Fotak v Fermar Paving Ltd., 2015 CanLII 46915 (ON LRB)
For more information, visit our Occupational Health & Safety Law blog at www.occupationalhealthandsafetylaw.com
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