Worker fired after caught smoking in workplace but denied the supervisor saw him with a cigarette
This instalment of You Make the Call features an employee who was fired for smoking at work.
Mate Belic worked in the Mississauga, Ont., weld shop of Strongco, a mobile equipment dealer for the construction, mining and oil and gas sector. Strongco had a policy of a smoke-free workplace. The policy stipulated that smoking was only allowed outside in designated smoking areas. Employees who violated the policy were subject to warnings followed by disciplinary action.
The policy was put in effect and communicated to employees in June 2009. In August 2009, Belic was caught smoking in the shop and was given a verbal warning. Eleven days later, he was caught again and received a written warning. In November, he received a one-day suspension and in January 2010 a three-day suspension, both for smoking at work.
On Feb. 11, 2010, the service manager went to the weld shop to check on the progress of a job Belic was working on. The manager could see through a window on the shop door that it was dark inside. He could make out Belic standing inside and saw a glowing ember. After watching Belic for about 20 seconds, the manager banged on the door, surprising Belic. According to the manager, he saw a cigarette in Belic’s hand as he turned to the door before Belic shoved it in his coat pocket and opened the door.
The manager asked Belic why he was smoking and Belic denied it. The manager consulted with senior management and they decided Belic should be fired, considering it was the fifth time he had been caught smoking in the workplace in the past six months.
On the morning of Feb. 12, 2010, management met with Belic and the union chairperson and presented Belic with a termination letter. Belic was shocked and said, “I can’t believe you’re doing this, it’s only smoking.” Management replied that he had been warned.
Belic testified he had not been smoking when the manager came to the door, but rather he had turned off the lights and was checking a gas tank before leaving the shop. He said he was startled by the banging on the door and he hadn’t been smoking when the manager made the accusation. It was also noted the manager didn’t indicate he saw or smelled any smoke, nor did he ask Belic to show him the cigarette.
You Make the Call
Did Strongco have cause to terminate Belic’s employment?
OR
Was dismissal too severe a punishment?
If you said Strongco had just cause to terminate Belic’s employment, you’re right. The arbitrator found Belic’s claims must be viewed in the context of his smoking habits, which showed he was addicted to cigarettes. It’s common for an addict to understate or deny his addiction, said the court, and his past misconduct supported the likelihood the manager’s observations were correct.
“It is clear from the repetitive incidents of violation of the workplace smoking prohibition, resulting in multiple disciplinary penalties, that the addiction is far from under control,” said the arbitrator.
Belic’s account wasn’t necessarily a deliberate lie but instead he may have convinced himself he wasn’t smoking in the shop after seemingly conceding it in the termination meeting. However, he had to “bear the principal burden of failing to observe the employer’s non-smoking policy.”
