Employee said it only happened once but his charges were for repeated theft over several months
A New Brunswick health care employer had just cause to dismiss an employee near retirement for stealing cleaning products, an adjudicator has ruled.
Vitalité Health Network, a regional health authority in New Brunswick, employed an environmental services worker identified as W.G., at the Restigouche Health Centre in Campbellton, N.B. His duties included cleaning patients’ rooms, garbage removal and floor waxing.
On Oct. 7, 2010, a member of the public told a Vitalité administrator that W.G. had stolen cleaning supplies from the janitor’s supply closet and stockroom, which he then sold at a discounted price. Some of the items sold included hand sanitizer and sanitizer dispensers, which deprived Vitalité of hand sanitizer supplies during the H1N1 pandemic.
When Vitalité management found out about the allegation, they met with the complainant to gather more information and decided to inform the police. On Oct. 18, they met with W.G. and decided to suspend him with pay. An investigation was launched and seven people were interviewed who acknowledged buying supplies from W.G. W.G. also denied to the investigator he had stolen anything.
Management met with W.G. on Nov. 16, 2010, and he denied making the “serial thefts,” but later admitted to one instance when he took two boxes of garbage bags and half a bottle of cleaning fluid in January 2009 because he “needed a couple of dollars.” He also denied knowing the people interviewed but the investigator’s report found four of them were his relatives.
Vitalité determined the report and the accusations were enough to show W.G. had been stealing supplies over several months, though it had no definite proof of other thefts. His lack of regret and initial denial exacerbated his misconduct, and taken along with a 1999 dismissal for poor performance and reinstatement, it did not consider him a “model employee.” Vitalité terminated W.G.’s employment.
W.G. claimed he was scared and nervous when the investigator interviewed him, which is why he lied about not stealing anything. When he was charged by police, he initially pleaded not guilty and then changed his plea to guilty to stealing merchandise worth less than $5,000 between January 2009 and October 2010. He was sentenced to four months in jail and 18 months’ probation.
The union grieved the termination, arguing Vitalité didn’t have proof of serial theft. It claimed Vitalité was quick to terminate W.G.’s employment because he had indicated he was going to retire soon and it could avoid paying his retirement allowance under the collective agreement by claiming dismissal for cause.
The adjudicator found W.G.’s admission that he needed money showed his misconduct was premeditated and not impulsive. In addition, though he only admitted to Vitalité one small instance of theft, he pleaded guilty to theft over several months valuing more money. This meant he lied to Vitalité and the investigator.
The adjudicator also found W.G., despite his long service, didn’t have a good record. Having already been dismissed once, he wasn’t considered a model employee and serious misconduct such as theft made an already tenuous employment relationship irreparable. The adjudicator upheld the termination.
