Employee didn't reveal truth about criminal charges and jail time
An Ontario government worker who lied twice about criminal charges against him does not deserve to be reinstated, an arbitrator has ruled.
The worker was employed with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) until January 2005, and was later charged with fraud, breach of trust and personation. While the police investigation was underway, the worker applied for an enforcement service representative position at the Family Responsibility Office (FRO) of the Ontario government. Normally, a successful hire for the job would be subject to a criminal records check, but the worker was only offered a six-month contract and did not undergo the check. He began work in March 2006.
In June, the worker signed a consent form for a criminal records check. The charges against him were discovered, as well as the fact his case was pending. The worker explained he had worked at a tax office and there was a misunderstanding where he had filed tax returns for clients without written authorization but he had verbal agreements. The worker said he had spoken to police and it would be cleared up. The FRO took him at his word.
As it turned out, the worker had not spoken to police and his charges stemmed from filing false tax returns for 18 people — 16 of whom were deceased — with false claims for child tax benefits and childcare expenses. He directed the refunds to his own bank accounts. In total, the worker defrauded the government out of more than $150,000.
On June 18, 2007, the worker called in sick but was actually in court to plead guilty to the charges. In November, he requested a leave without pay for up to one year so he could take care of his ill mother. He was eventually granted a three-month leave. Three days after the start of his leave, the worker was in court and sentenced to 18 months in jail.
The FRO learned of the worker’s incarceration in January 2008 and investigated. There was no evidence he had used his job for inappropriate purposes, but it was discovered that he lied about the reason for the leave and the nature of the charges. On Sept. 12, 2008, the worker’s employment was terminated.
The arbitrator found the employee’s mother was sick, but he was aware of the possibility of his sentencing and he misrepresented the reason for his leave — as well as the day he called in sick for his court date. There was no reasonable explanation for his misleading account of his charges, which called his honesty into question. The worker’s position at the FRO required him to access sensitive and confidential information, so trust was essential for his job. After misleading the FRO, this trust was destroyed, said the arbitrator.
“(The worker’s) dishonesty in the two instances relied on by the employer go to the heart of the employment relationship,” said the arbitrator. “Although the employer gave (the employee) the benefit of the doubt on more than one occasion, his conduct abused the trust the employer had placed in him.”
