Machine malfunction after employee left unqualified co-worker in charge caused plant shutdown
This instalment of You Make the Call involves a worker who made a misstep while on a last chance agreement.
The employer, Evraz NA, was a steel manufacturer in Regina, Sask. The employee was an ID operator at a continuous production mill that made spiral steel pipes. An ID operator was responsible for monitoring the welds of the seams and the gap control as each pipe was made. Because it was a continuous process, the ID operator was required to be at his stations at all times during the process, unless someone else with sufficient competency was available to take over the job functions. This requirement was in Evraz’s written policy.
In June 2010, the employee was suspended for five days for insubordination. A month later, he was given another suspension, this one indefinite, for further insubordination. Evraz considered the second suspension progressive discipline and a step up from the earlier suspension.
While on suspension, the employee met with management to discuss his insubordination, poor work performance and attendance. He didn’t offer any explanation for his conduct and Evraz terminated his employment on July 29, 2010. He was reinstated shortly thereafter with a last chance agreement, which required him to improve is “job initiative, attitude and work performance to an acceptable standard,” as well as follow company rules and procedures.
On April 16, 2011, the employee left his ID operator station for 10 minutes while the mill was running. He arranged for another worker to take over while he was gone, but the co-worker wasn’t qualified to perform such duties. The co-worker was supposed to begin training as an ID operator but had not done so yet. When the employee asked him to sit at the ID station while the employee left for a few minutes, the co-worker replied that he had never been there before and didn’t know what he was doing. According to the co-worker, the employee said, “Don’t worry, everything is going good,” and left.
While the employee was gone, a welding head became misaligned and caused a malformation in 58 feet of pipe and a shutdown of the spiral pipe production mill for more than three hours, causing an estimated loss of $180,000 to the company. The employee was dismissed the same day.
The union challenged the dismissal, arguing the employee had unwittingly breached his last chance agreement because he thought the co-worker was qualified to perform ID operator functions. This honest mistake was a justifiable basis for the employee’s misconduct, the union argued, and the employee stated that he would not have asked the co-worker to stand in for him if he didn’t think the co-worker was able to. The employee claimed he would not put the company in jeopardy, especially when he was under a last chance agreement.
You Make the Call
Did the employee’s misconduct violate his last chance agreement and warrant dismissal?
OR
Was it an honest mistake that deserved another chance?
If you said the employee violated his last chance agreement and deserved dismissal, you’re right. An arbitrator found the employee was aware that the co-worker was not qualified to take over the ID operator functions.
The arbitrator found that, based on the reported exchange between them, the employee more likely believed nothing would go wrong during the few minutes he was away, as opposed to truly believing the co-worker knew how to handle the ID operator responsibilities. The employee’s actions breached Evraz’s policy and caused significant financial loss to the company. As a result, the misconduct was a breach of the employee’s last chance agreement and warranted dismissal. The dismissal was upheld.
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