Witness reports contradicted worker's accusation that co-worker spit on him during argument
An Ontario worker who was fired for violence in the workplace after being accused of spitting on and pushing a co-worker has been reinstated by the Ontario Arbitration Board.
Fahad Jutt was a warehouse worker for Mississauga, Ont.-based clothing retailer Winners, who was hired in 2008. Jutt had a serious of arguments with a co-worker, Gavin Reid. Reid claimed that sometimes, when the two were assigned to work together, Jutt would stand there and leave all the work for Reid to do.
On May 7, 2010, Jutt and Reid were working separately unloading boxes off a conveyor belt. A temporary employee was also working nearby and was dealing with a large number of boxes. Jutt was supposed to be helping the temporary employee, but to Reid it seemed he wasn’t doing so. Reid and two other workers went over to assist the temporary employee to clear his lane of the accumulating boxes.
Reid claimed that while they were helping, Jutt was staring at them and not working. Reid asked him what was wrong and the two exchanged words. He claimed Jutt approached him and pointed “in my face.” Reid told Jutt to “back off” and Jutt replied with similar sentiments. According to Reid, Jutt then made a comment about his “mentality” and their argument became heated.
Reid testified that Jutt said something in another language and then spit in Reid’s face. Reid said he wiped his face and felt Jutt’s finger in his chest, at which point he pushed Jutt backwards. He swung his arm back to punch Jutt, but another worker stepped in and restrained him. He told the co-workers Jutt had spit in his face.
Other employees reported the arguing, pointing and pushing occurred but none saw the spitting. Jutt denied he had been staring and that he spit in Reid’s face.
Winners fired both Jutt and Reid, claiming it had no tolerance for any level of violence in the workplace, of which all employees were aware. The union filed a grievance on behalf of Jutt, arguing there was no ground for discharge.
The arbitrator found the verbal argument that preceded the pushing “could not be characterized as any threat of violence” and Jutt was not being disciplined for staring or not working, so the issue was whether he had actually spit on Reid. None of the other witnesses reported seeing it and they claimed Reid was restrained immediately and didn’t wipe his face, contrary to Reid’s account.
The arbitrator found the evidence showed Jutt did no worse than touch Reid’s chest when he was pointing. This was not serious enough to justify discipline, let alone dismissal, said the arbitrator.
“Frankly, it is a stretch to conclude that one employee touching another on the chest amounts to an ‘act of aggression or violence’,” said the arbitrator.
