‘It's a pretty high threshold [for dismissal], but theft will almost always get you there’: lawyer
An British Columbia arbitrator has upheld the firing of a worker who knowingly submitted a falsified receipt for reimbursement and subsequently provided misleading information during the employer's investigation.
“It's very rare where one offense will be enough to amount to common-law just cause or similiar discipline under a collective agreement,” says Melanie Samuels, chair of the Employment and Labour Group at Singleton Reynolds in Vancouver. “It's a pretty high threshold, but theft will almost always get you there unless there's some extraordinary circumstance or misunderstanding - an employee doesn’t have to be given warnings that theft is inappropriate.”
Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure is an energy infrastructure company for the gas processing, natural gas, petroleum refining, and renewable fuels markets. In February 2021, it hired the worker to be an “operator 7” at its light oil refinery in Prince George, BC.
The worker eventually worked his way up to an “operator 4” role at the refinery, with no discipline on his record.
The worker went on an approved unpaid personal leave of absence for family issues from April 1 to Oct. 3, 2022. When he returned, he had upgraded his power engineer certification, which granted him an annual premium as part of his compensation.
In November 2023, the worker became a chief shop steward with the union and...
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