‘This should not be seen as a condonation of their conduct which is deserving of a lengthy suspension’
An arbitrator in Ontario has ordered Metrolinx to reinstate five employees who were dismissed in 2021 for workplace sexual harassment, substituting lengthy suspensions for termination.
The decision—issued by arbitrator Janice Johnston on Oct. 9, 2025—concerns five employees who are members of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587.
Roughly four years ago, co-worker Ms. A received screenshots of these messages and alerted her manager but declined to file a formal complaint or disclose the identity of the person who sent her the screenshots. Despite there being no formal complaint, Metrolinx—which operates GO Transit, UP Express, and PRESTO—did an internal investigation and found that the five workers, who had between six and nine years of seniority at the time of their discharge, had engaged in sexual harassment, with three also found to have engaged in additional harassment contrary to the company’s Workplace Harassment and Discrimination Policy.
The case has gone through several legal proceedings, but in the most recent decision, arbitrator Janice Johnston decided on reinstatement.
She described the workers' conduct as “egregious,” stating, “it was extremely offensive and the comments made about female co-workers were shameful and reflected poorly on their character. The conduct of the grievors constitutes workplace sexual...
[WASHINGTON] California-based TP-Link Systems says it may take a sales hit of more than US$1 billion because of erroneous reports that the networking company’s technology has been used to launch C...