EMPLOYMENT | Bad Behaviour 6.0: Employees getting away with...

• Date: 01 March 2021
• Author: Bowal, Peter

Reading Time: 4 minutes

An exhibitionist teacher, a foul-languaged childcare worker and a lustful caretaker are three more cases of employees getting away with bad behaviour.

In my opinion, the phrase "fuck off" is just a forceful and intense way to say "leave me alone" or "go away". On September 12, 1996, I find that Mrs. Legere used the phrase in the sense of saying forcefully and intensely... "leave me alone". Legere v Ymca-Ywca Of Saint John (NBQB, 1997) at para 31

This article continues this column's series identifying cases of egregious behaviour in Canadian workplaces that arbitrators and judges ultimately excused. It starts with the employer firing the employee. The employee objects, and the arbitrator or judge agrees with the employee. The employee returns to work, often reinstated with back pay. In non-unionized cases, the judge or arbitrator usually orders the employer to pay damages to the employee for wrongful dismissal and legal costs.

This installment of head-scratching outcomes in dismissal-for-cause cases comes from our education system. Teachers, as professionals, are positive role models held to a high degree of moral propriety in the community. The Supreme Court of Canada confirmed this in its 1997 Toronto Board of Education decision. Other support staff working with school-aged children should be held to similar standards at work.

After reading these cases from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, one asks, "why does the law excuse this behaviour and leave these employees working with children in schools?"

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