Decae and Treasury Board (Revenue Canada - Excise)

Full Text

166-2-26796
Decae and Treasury Board (Revenue Canada - Excise)

Before: B. Turner
Appearances: Decae (himself), for the Grievor; R. Snyder, for the Employer
Decision rendered: May 13, 1996

Suspension (indefinite) - Criminal charges of tax fraud - Grievor left hearing after providing his testimony - Delay in employer replying to the grievance - the grievor, an Audit Unit Manager for the excise portion of the department, was suspended indefinitely without pay as a result of an investigation of alleged fraud in his income tax returns - his suspension began in April 1995 and he was formally charged under the Criminal Code in October 1995 - his criminal trial was set to take place in late April 1996 - he filed a grievance in June 1995 which was responded to by the employer in September 1995 - at the outset of the hearing before the adjudicator, the grievor provided a statement under oath in which he alleged that the employer had contravened the provisions of the PSSRB Regulations and Rules of Procedure in that it had not responded to his grievance in a timely fashion - he also maintained that the employer had contravened its own procedures in permitting the investigation to last for more than two to five weeks - after his crossexamination, the grievor left the hearing - the employer's witness indicated why it had suspended the grievor without pay and why it felt no other duties could be entrusted to the grievor pending the resolution of the criminal process - the adjudicator found that although the employer did not respond to the grievance in a timely manner, the grievor did not avail himself of the right to refer the grievance to adjudication at an earlier point in time - with regard to the suspension without pay the adjudicator noted that it is customary that in such proceedings the issue of the hardship to the grievor would be weighed against the legitimate interests of the employer - however, in view of the evidence before him, the adjudicator could not conclude that the suspension was unreasonable.

Grievance denied.

Cases cited: Re Air Canada and International Association of Machinists, Lodge 148, (1973) 5 L.A.C. (2d) 1973; Griffiths (166-2-7949).