“There are two things that amount to misconduct on a higher level that will justify cause for dismissal – safety and trust.”
So says Melanie Samuels, chair of the Employment and Labour Group at Singleton Reynolds in Vancouver, after a BC arbitrator upheld the firing of a worker for multiple serious driving infractions – including hitting a pedestrian with a cement mixer truck and trying to shift the blame.
“If [an employee] damages safety or trust with the employment relationship, then I think those are always going to be a hard hurdle to overcome [for employees and unions in a just-cause termination],” says Samuels.
