History of angry behaviour culminated in thinly veiled threat against management
Uttering a threat against the employer was just cause for dismissal for a British Columbia newspaper worker, the B.C. Arbitration Board has ruled.
Edwards Shea was a senior district manager for the Prince George, B.C., Citizen newspaper. Hired in 1998, he was responsible for delivery routes and the carriers who worked them. He also had a recycling business on the side, of which the Citizen was a client.
Shea’s employment was troubled at times, as he appeared to have an attitude problem towards some other employees. In October 2009, he told a sales manager that she was not a competent supervisor and that he made her look good. He was not disciplined for the comments.
On March 2, 2010, a sales clerk filed a complaint against Shea, claiming he called her to open a locked door and used profanity and an angry tone. The female clerk said she felt threatened as it was only the two of them on duty. The service manager passed on the complaint and indicated he had acted this way before. However, Shea denied it.
The Citizen wrote up a disciplinary letter indicating aggression and abusive behaviour was unacceptable in the workplace. He was told to apologize and further instances would result in further discipline. Shea then gave the clerk a quick “yeah, sorry” but the Citizen didn’t follow up to find out if he apologized. Shea also claimed he didn’t receive a copy of the letter.
On March 24, 2010, Shea was disciplined for using a company car to do work for his recycling business. A month later, the sales manager tried to talk to Shea about a complaint against one of his carriers, but Shea ignored her. The behaviour got him a disciplinary letter for being “insubordinate and disrespectful” towards the manager.
In October 2010, the sales manager met with Shea after his vacation to ask him why his out of office email reply had been on during his last day in the office. He became combative and told her not to tell him how to do his job. He told off another manager in the meeting and rejected claims that his recycling business was interfering with his work.
After the meeting, a union steward suggested to Shea that they go to a nearby donut shop to talk. Shea was angry and said “I know where they live.” The steward reported the comment but Shea claimed it was taken out of context as he was talking about customers on his route if they fired him. However, the Citizen decided to terminate his employment for threatening the employer.
The board didn’t find Shea’s account credible. First, the steward had no reason to lie and was clear on what she heard. Also, Shea was acting disrespectfully to the managers and wasn’t afraid to say things about them.
“Given Shea’s temperament it is a statement that he is clearly capable of making,” said the board.
