Cahill and Treasury Board (Solicitor General Canada – Correctional Service)

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166-2-28730
Cahill and Treasury Board (Solicitor General Canada – Correctional Service)

Before: P. Chodos
Appearances: Cahill, for the Grievor; J. Hunter, for the Employer
Decision rendered: August 30, 1999

Financial penalty (5 days' pay) – Abusive behaviour towards a subordinate – Prison guard – the grievor, a correctional officer, was informing one of his subordinates that, as her position had not been designated under the Public Service Staff Relations Act, she would have the right to join in a strike, should one occur – his subordinate responded that "if you would cross my picket line, I would spit in your face" – the grievor then replied that "if you spit in my face, I would punch you in your face" – this occurred in the presence of an inmate, who complained to the warden about the incident – as a result, the grievor was imposed a financial penalty equivalent to five days' pay for having been abusive to another employee while on duty – the grievor contested the penalty for being too harsh in the circumstances – the employer argued that the grievor's conduct had constituted a breach of trust and that his apparent lack of remorse required a serious response – the grievor responded that the severity of the disciplinary action was due to the warden's personal antagonism towards him – he added that an oral reprimand would have been more than sufficient, particularly when taking into account that the discussion was about an hypothetical situation only and that no threat had been made – the adjudicator found that the grievor had committed a relatively minor act of misconduct and that the five-day financial penalty was totally unwarranted and was both punitive and destructive – the adjudicator substituted a written reprimand for the financial penalty effective as of the date of the incident.

Grievance allowed in part.

Cases cited: Tanciu (166-2-27712); Greeley (166-2-12318).