Anten and Treasury Board (National Defence)

Full Text

166-2-27491 and 27499
Anten and Treasury Board (National Defence)

Before: J. Potter
Appearances: D. Landry, for the Grievor; M. Crocker, for the Employer
Decision rendered: November 7, 1997

Suspension (approximately 3 months) – Insubordination – Union representative – Termination (disciplinary) – Smoking in a non-smoking area and drinking while on duty – Culminating incident – grievor had been elected Male Harassment Officer for the bargaining agent – he had a fairly extensive disciplinary record arising to a large extent from differences between himself and the employer regarding his rights and responsibilities as a union representative – grievor was aware of the requirement that in the absence of urgent circumstances he should obey now and grieve later when such a difference arose – certain employees were unhappy with the supervisory style of the new supervisor of the Controls Shop and two of them had filed harassment complaints with the employer – as a result of the continuing differences between the supervisor and the employees, the employer called a staff meeting to discuss the matter although the employees were not advised of the reason for the meeting – the two employees believed that the meeting related to their complaints and requested the grievor to attend – employer ordered grievor not to attend as this was an all-staff meeting of the Controls Shop – employer advised grievor that if he ignored this direction he would be considered to be insubordinate and would be charged with misconduct – nonetheless grievor entered the meeting room – grievor was ultimately awarded a suspension of approximately three months for this action – adjudicator found that, as this was not an urgent matter, grievor should have obeyed the employer's order and then filed a grievance if he believed the order was not justified – however, in light of the length of time it took the employer to advise the grievor of the penalty to be imposed upon him (approximately two months), adjudicator reduced the penalty to one month – shortly after his return to work following this suspension, grievor was discharged for smoking in a non-smoking area and drinking a bottle of beer while on duty – grievor conceded that he had done what was alleged by the employer – in light of grievor's disciplinary record, which included a prior incident of drinking while on duty, adjudicator denied the grievance.

Grievance against suspension allowed in part.

Grievance against discharge denied.

Cases cited: Anten (166-2-25442, 25873 to 25875 & 25791); Re Culinar Foods Inc. and American Federation of Grain Millers, Local 242 (1985), 48 L.A.C. (4th) 106; U.S.W.A. Local 12998 v. Liquid Carbonic Inc. (1996), 29 O.R. (3d) 468 (Ont. Div. Ct).