Employer wasn’t aware of medical note after employee said he couldn’t work because of stress
A stressed-out employee who said he couldn’t handle his job anymore did not quit, an adjudicator has ruled.
Alan Storie was a driver for E.B.D. Enterprises, a transportation and freight services company based in Winnipeg. In 2009, Storie was involved in three accidents while driving for E.B.D. He was given a written warning because of the accidents.
Storie didn’t like the warning and quit his job. A few days later, he contacted E.B.D. and said he didn’t mean to quit, and his reaction was because of the extreme stress that he was under. He provided a medical note supporting his claim, and it also stated that he needed some time off to recharge.
Storie took a few weeks off and returned to work on Nov. 30, 2009. A week later, on the morning of Dec. 6, Storie called the dispatcher and left voice messages saying “I’m not doing this anymore.” He also left a message with E.B.D.’s compliance officer saying “I’m done. I cannot handle this.”
The next day, E.B.D. contacted Storie and he confirmed that he was done. He also said he was going to see a doctor about his stress. A record of employment (ROE) was created indicating he had quit.
When Storie received the ROE two weeks later, he called the company to say he had a doctor’s note verifying that he did not quit but couldn’t work because of stress. E.B.D. said he had given the impression that he had quit, so Storie called the compliance officer to clarify that he had a doctor’s note to confirm his medical condition. The compliance officer asked E.B.D.’s controller to change the ROE, but neglected to tell her Storie had a medical note. The controller refused as she had never received a note.
Storie didn’t know why E.B.D. refused to change the ROE and sued for unjust dismissal. He also successfully applied for workers’ compensation benefits and was eventually approved for 90 per cent of his net wage with E.B.D.
The adjudicator found the problem lay largely with the lack of communication between Storie and E.B.D. The company didn’t know he had a medical note, and Storie didn’t know why it refused to change his ROE. Though both sides could have made a better effort, part of the blame lay with the compliance officer, to whom Storie mentioned the note, said the adjudicator.
The adjudicator found Storie did not quit his job but was unable to work for medical reasons. Storie didn’t feel he could work for E.B.D. again, so compensation for damages was the only remedy. Since Storie had received most of his wage from workers’ compensation, E.B.D. was ordered to pay him $7,500 in lieu of notice and to make up for the period from when he left E.B.D. to when he started receiving benefits. See Storie v. E.B.D. Enterprises Inc., 2011 CarswellNat 5256 (Can. Lab. Code Adj.).
