Employee who changed his mind after choosing to quit rather than be fired stuck with decision: Board
Stress doesn’t subvert free will
Terminating an employment relationship can be an emotional and stressful experience, regardless of whether it’s the employer or the employee doing the terminating. Often, when employees say they quit during an emotional outburst or trying situation must be given a cooling-off period and employers must make sure of the decision before it can accept the resignation. However, there is a distinction between expected stress in a job and duress that could force an employee to resign unwillingly.
The following case involves an employee who took union advice to resign rather than be fired after he caused a dangerous incident in the workplace then claimed his decision was affected by a drug addiction and medical condition. However, as the parties found out, there is a difference between regretting a clear-headed decision after the fact and not appreciating the consequences while making it.
A British Columbia mine worker’s regret over resigning his position doesn’t mean it wasn’t a conscious decision the employer was entitled to accept, the B.C. Arbitration Board has ruled.
Sandro Salvati, 45, was a cableman at the Highland Valley Copper Mine in central British Columbia, southwest of Kamloops. He was hired to work at the mine in 1997 and his shift schedule consisted of four days on followed by four days off, alternating between day and night shifts.
In 2008, Salvati was disciplined on two occasions. The first was for not wearing proper safety gloves while on the job and the second was for failing to call in when he was absent one day.
On Feb. 19, 2009, Salvati was operating a truck in the mine while two co-workers were moving shovels. His truck was connected to cables that held part of the shovels while the other workers guided them. At one point, they were all working on various parts of the rig – Salvati untangling a knot in the cable while two others pulled the cable down to untie the “pot head” part of the shovel. While his two co-workers were bent over the pot head taking it apart, Salvati got in his truck and, without checking to see if the others were done, drove the truck quickly forward. The truck pulled the cable tight and lifted the pot head, narrowly missing one of the co-workers. However, the cable hit the other co-worker and threw him ten feet away, knocking off his hard hat.
The workers finished moving the rest of the shovel but the co-worker who had been knocked down said it was “a serious deal” and he had to report the incident. Salvati reportedly asked his co-worker not to because nobody had been hurt and “things happen and are kept among the boys,” but the co-worker insisted on reporting it to the foreman.
Worker in trouble after accident in mine
Salvati worked the next day without incident and then was off for four days. During this time off, Salvati went to his union president and asked him for advice. The union president agreed it was serious and there were several potential outcomes, including the possible termination of Salvati’s employment.
A few days later, Salvati began counselling with a family therapist, to whom he revealed that he believed he had a cocaine addiction. However, he didn’t reveal this to management of the mine.
When Salvati returned to work on Feb. 26, he was called to a safety meeting with management and the union’s occupational health and safety co-chair. Salvati was very nervous and at one point had to stop the meeting because he was upset. When they discussed the Feb. 19 incident, Salvati said he was very glad his co-worker had not been seriously hurt and he was hit hard by the fact he almost caused serious harm to someone. However, he still didn’t mention anything about any drug problem.
After the safety meeting, Salvati was brought to a disciplinary meeting where he was told he would be able to “tell your story.” Salvati explained he moved his truck so quickly at the time because he wanted to get traffic moving and denied doing anything wrong on purpose. He initially denied asking the co-worker not to report it but then said he “might have mentioned it.”
Worker would rather quit than be fired
After the disciplinary meeting, Salvati discussed his situation with union officials. They agreed he might be fired and Salvati was worried the effect his firing would have on his wife and family, including some of his wife’s family who worked at the mine. He asked the union president to find out if Highland Valley would be willing to let him resign instead so a termination wouldn’t be on his record.
The union president discussed things with the mine’s management and returned to Salvati, informing him Highland Valley was planning on firing him. However, it had agreed to give him the option of quitting instead.
Salvati accepted the mine’s offer and signed a letter of resignation it drew up, making his resignation effective immediately. He was escorted to his locker to clear out his belongings and then driven home by a member of Highland Valley’s security team.
A few days later, on March 2, Salvati told the union he felt he had a cocaine addiction and his decision to quit had come under duress. He also claimed his addiction combined with personal problems he was experiencing had caused him to be tired and stressed on Feb. 19, contributing to the accident. He provided a letter from his therapist that said his treatment for cocaine addiction was going well and his prognosis for recovery was “excellent” and he would be a better employee once he was clean. Salvati had told his therapist he was distressed about the resignation and he regretted it.
The therapist later determined the accident may have caused an “erratic, highly anxious state of mind” for Salvati that led to trouble sleeping and symptoms of mania. He claimed this “manic state of mind” contributed to his decision to quit and once his mental health improved, he regretted the decision.
The union filed a grievance, claiming Salvati wasn’t in a position to make a proper decision to resign and he hadn’t demonstrated any desire to resign outside of that stressful day. It also argued his cocaine addiction affected his decision.
The board made it clear the onus was on Salvati to prove he had a medical condition and it affected his actions when he quit.
Worker was clear-headed when resigning: Court
With regards to the first point, the board found there was no indication at the time of Salvati’s resignation that he was cognitively impaired in any way. He discussed the situation with the union and waited while the union brought his suggestion to Highland Valley. When the union came back with the mine’s acceptance of Salvati’s suggestion, there was some more discussion before Salvati signed the letter of resignation. He had been made aware of the possibility he might be fired before the disciplinary meeting and he had known he was in trouble since the accident a week earlier. The consideration of his termination and possible resignation came about “over a relatively lengthy period of time” with the advice of the union, said the board.
The board also found that even if Salvati was affected by cocaine on the day of the accident, by his own admission he hadn’t used it between the accident and his resignation a week later. The board heard medical evidence that the direct effect of cocaine intoxication was short-lived, so it determined the drug didn’t directly impact Salvati’s decision to resign.
“At the time of his resignation, it is evident there was a lot of pressure on Mr. Salvati (finances, home, drug usage or addiction, family) but that does not in itself remove the notion of the exercise of free will,” said the board. “Most major decisions or hard choices that are made in negative circumstances involve a significant level of stress.”
The board pointed out Salvati’s therapist was not a medical doctor who would be qualified to diagnose cocaine addiction or mania and there was no legitimate medical opinion that supported these claims. The therapist didn’t make an actual diagnosis of addiction anyway, but rather accepted Salvati’s claim.
The board also found if the therapist’s assertion that Salvati’s condition affected his decision to resign, then it also would apply to his desire to revoke it and seek counselling.
The board ruled Salvati’s decision to resign was not affected by any medical condition or drug addiction and Highland Valley had the right to accept his resignation.
“This is a situation where (Salvati) subsequently changed his mind and regretted what he had done, not one in which there had never been any intent on his part to resign,” said the board. “Mr. Salvati may prefer in retrospect a different outcome than the one he agreed to but his decision to resign was a conscious act on his part.”
For more information see:
