Employee held up production line after request for moment of silence for tragedy victims was denied
An Ontario company did not have just cause to dismiss an employee who took a moment of silence to recognize a tragedy, an arbitrator has ruled.
James Fletcher was employed as a cutter in a Guelph, Ont., meat production facility operated by Cargill, a producer and marketer of food and agricultural products and services.
On Dec. 15, 2012, Fletcher arrived at the plant before his shift and asked the operations manager to hold a moment of silence to honour the victims of the tragedy that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., the day before. The manager said that the company would not observe a moment of silence because, it wasn’t possible to honour the victims of all tragedies with a separate moment of silence for each. The moment of silence on Remembrance Day served to honour all victims and fallen, said the manager. Fletcher was angered at this response but said nothing at the time.
While waiting for the meat production line in the plant to get going after a mechanical delay, Fletcher told a co-worker that when the line started up, he would refuse to work until the company gave everyone two minutes of silence. The co-worker and other employees tried to discourage him, including one who was a former member of the joint health and safety committee who told Fletcher he could only refuse work if he felt it was unsafe. Most employees told him he should hold his moment of silence before the line resumed.
A supervisor was told of Fletcher’s intentions, and when the line started moving and Fletcher let some pieces of meat go by, the supervisor asked him what was going on. Fletcher replied that he wasn’t going to work that day. Brought to the supervisor’s office, and with a union steward on hand, Fletcher repeated his intention and was sent home. The following week, his employment was terminated.
Fletcher contacted the press and was quoted in a newspaper article describing his actions as an “on-duty vigil” and a “mini-protest.” He said he knew he would get in trouble but didn’t expect to be fired. He also appeared on a local news show criticizing Cargill.
Fletcher testified that he regretted his actions and would have done things differently given a chance to do them over. However, the arbitrator noted that his intention by contacting the press was to “cast the company in a negative light.”
The arbitrator found Cargill’s operations at the plant involved a production line that could not simply be shut down for a moment of silence. Any product on the line would have to work its way through to the end with no more product added, and shutting it down for one minute would cost Cargill $1,000.
The arbitrator also reiterated what the manager told Fletcher: Cargill honoured victims and the fallen on Remembrance Day with a moment of silence. It was also noted the company participated in humanitarian initiatives, including fundraising for victims of the 2011 tsunami in Japan and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
The arbitrator found Fletcher “willfully and intentionally planned and engaged in a work refusal designed to force the company to hold a moment of silence.” However, Fletcher had three years of service with a clean record and he expressed remorse at the hearing when he realized his actions were wrong. As a result, the arbitrator determined Cargill did not have just cause to terminate Fletcher’s employment.
