Asking employee back not good enough after rants and accusations of theft
An Alberta company must pay a fired employee more than $25,000 for wrongful dismissal and poor treatment by a manager during the course of her dismissal, the Alberta Provincial Court has ruled.
Darlene Horyn, 50, was an evening manager for Waysave Family Foods, a neighbourhood grocery store in Edmonton. Her duties included cashing out and closing the store and supervising up to three employees on the shift. She was friends with the Fedoretz family who owned the store and had previously worked for them in a lounge before joining Waysave in 2003.
Horyn reported to the owners regularly, usually by telephone. Gradually, the original owner, Michael Fedoretz, stepped back from the business and his son, Howard, took over, with Horyn reporting to Howard.
Suspicious manager unloaded on employee
In early 2011, another grocery store opened in the area and Howard Fedoretz — now managing the store — became edgy and stressed. When Horyn made her regular reports to him, he was curt and abrasive with her. On April 7, the Fedoretz called Horyn to the back of the store and began yelling and swearing at her, asking her “What’s your f---ing problem?” He accused Horyn of sabotaging him and insulted her using profane language.
Horyn was “confused and dumbfounded” and didn’t know what Fedoretz was talking about. She began to cry and then went back to the front of the store and finished her shift.
Three days later, Fedoretz called the store shortly after Horyn began her shift and spoke with her. She was in the back office and another employee was outside the office with the door open. Fedoretz once again swore at Horyn and yelled at her that “you’ve been screwing me for years.” He used profane language again and Horyn’s co-worker could hear him calling her profane names on the phone. Horyn asked if he was firing her and Fedoretz replied, “Yes.”
Horyn pointed out Fedoretz’s father was ill and firing her would stress him out more, and Fedoretz calmed down. However, he told her, “You can still do cash but if you steal anything you f---ing bitch I will charge you.” Fedoretz claimed he had observed Horyn smoking and not working while reviewing security camera footage and he didn’t “specifically recall” calling Horyn names.
After Fedoretz hung up, Horyn began to cry, and she told her co-worker she had just been fired and was going home.
Another two days later, on April 12, Horyn called the store to talk to Fedoretz. He asked her to come back to work, but Horyn said she was uncomfortable with doing that. She finally agreed to come back but only after Fedoretz’s father, Michael — her original boss — came back from vacation in a few days. She wanted to speak with the elder Fedoretz directly.
That evening, Horyn went to the store so she and Fedoretz could visit his mother in the hospital and talk about the situation. Fedoretz accused Horyn and a co-worker of starting up a new store to compete with Waysave. Horyn asked him where she would get the money to do that and Fedoretz replied, “From my dad!” He later gave her a bag of cash to prepare for a bank deposit that evening.
Horyn was able to speak with Michael Fedoretz on April 20, and he revealed there was a problem with theft at the store at night. Horyn had not been informed of any problem or any suspicions they had.
On April 21, Howard Fedoretz called the store while Horyn was working to make an employee schedule. He berated Horyn again and hung up.
The next day Horyn was scheduled to work, April 24, she left a letter for Fedoretz that referred to the “ridiculous rumour” about her opening her own store and that Waysave had dismissed her. She left Waysave for the last time and tried to find another job, but was hindered by an eye injury she suffered from an assault and robbery at the store. The eyepatch she had to wear hindered her job interview performance and she wasn’t able to find new work.
Horyn filed a suit for wrongful dismissal. Howard Fedoretz denied dismissing her and pointed out he asked her back after their argument, but later it was Horyn who terminated her employment by leaving. He also explained he had been under stress because of the store’s declining financial situation.
Manager’s demeaning conduct breached employment relationship: Court
The court found Fedoretz’s claim that he couldn’t recall some of his insults of Horyn not convincing and he didn’t actually deny it. The observations of other employees supported Horyn’s story that he yelled at her and insulted her and such conduct amounted to dismissal without cause, said the court.
“There can be no doubt that the (manager) Howard Fedoretz engaged in an irregular but irrefutable pattern of conduct intended to demean and belittle Ms. Horyn,” said the court. “It is my finding that this conduct amounted to a breach of a fundamental implied term of the employment relationship.”
The court found Fedoretz terminated Horyn’s employment when he called her on April 10, 2011, with his accusations and profanities. This call damaged “the atmosphere and conditions of the employment relationship.” It was unreasonable to expect Horyn to return to work after the “wrongful and hurtful accusations,” said the court.
Horyn’s return to the store after Fedoretz asked her back was only a temporary arrangement to help the business, not an acceptance or condonation of the new arrangement. When she left again, this time for good, it didn’t mean she terminated the employment relationship, said the court.
The court found Horyn was entitled to seven months’ pay in lieu of notice for her eight years of service and lower management position. It also determined the conduct of Fedoretz leading up to and during Horyn’s dismissal was “unfounded, unjustified, cold, callous and mean-spirited” towards a “loyal and trustworthy employee. This conduct caused Horyn stress, embarrassment, humiliation and anguish, which the court considered real damages as outlined by the Supreme Court of Canada in Keays v. Honda Canada. Waysave was ordered to pay an additional $4,500 in bad-faith damages, for a total of $25,369.57.
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