Graves and Treasury Board (Revenue Canada – Customs, Excise and Taxation)

Full Text

149-2-199 and 166-2-28758
Graves and Treasury Board (Revenue Canada – Customs, Excise and Taxation)

Before: J. Potter
Appearances: B. Done, for the Applicant/Grievor, H. Newman, for the Employer
Decision rendered: June 11, 1999

Suspension (5 days) – Assault – Remorse – Employer's duty to investigate – the grievor requested an extension of time to file the grievance – at the hearing, the employer informed the adjudicator that this issue was no longer in dispute – the employer had imposed a five-day suspension on the grievor, a customs inspector, for having assaulted an attendant of the parking lot where she was parking her vehicle, while wearing her uniform – the grievor showed up for work and parked her vehicle – the parking lot attendant wrote down the licence plate number of the grievor's vehicle, as she did not have her parking tag with her – the grievor called him a jerk – the grievor then related the incident to her supervisor and asked to go to the attendant's supervisor's office to resolve the parking tag issue – the grievor resolved that issue with the attendant's supervisor, in the presence of the attendant – the grievor alleged the attendant was rude to her during that meeting – at the end of the meeting, the attendant asked the grievor to bring a document to her supervisor – the attendant held the document at 20 or 30 cm in front of the grievor's face – the grievor pushed the attendant, who fell in a chair and a brief altercation ensued, which resulted in the attendant bleeding from the neck – the grievor recounted this further incident to her supervisor, informed him she had hit the attendant and apologized for it – the attendant pressed criminal charges against the grievor – the employer argued that the grievor had lost her temper and had engaged in an unprovoked, spontaneous attack – the employer considered she had disgraced her uniform and her badge – the employer was concerned with the possibility of the grievor having a similar reaction to a member of the travelling public – the grievor raised concerns in regard to the credibility of the evidence – she argued that she had been provoked by the attendant and that she had reacted reasonably in the circumstances – the adjudicator found that the grievor's misconduct had been established – the adjudicator further found that the employer had not considered that the grievor had acknowledged her hitting the attendant – the adjudicator found that, in the circumstances, a three-day suspension was more appropriate.

Grievance allowed in part.