5-day suspension for comments, hugging not ruled excessive

An Alberta arbitrator has upheld the suspension of a male registered nurse who had a habit of making inappropriate comments and hugging his female colleagues.

Lorne Radcliffe was a registered nurse with Alberta Health Services (AHS) since 2000. In 2012, he became the team lead for the home care unit at the Whitecourt Healthcare Centre in Whitecourt, Alta. He was responsible for assigning work and assessing hospital patients being discharged for placement in care facilities or home care.

Radcliffe got along well with his colleagues in the home care unit, the majority of whom were women. He liked joking around and felt comfortable with everybody. However, sometimes he made comments that made his colleagues uncomfortable or hugged them without asking.

On Oct. 19, 2018, Radcliffe was leaving for the day and said goodbye to a registered practical nurse (RPN) in the unit. The RPN had a long weekend scheduled, so she said: “See you next Tuesday.” Radcliffe repeated the phrase three times and then told her to “think about the first letter of every word.” Another employee told the RPN not to answer, and she figured out that it spelled out the letters to an offensive term.

The RPN was hurt as she thought she had a good relationship with Radcliffe and wondered if that was what he really thought of her. She also thought the word was disgusting.

The next day, a registered nurse (RN) who heard the exchange filed a complaint. She described what Radcliffe had said and added that “it has been happening for years” and “we have put up with it so long.” She said that there were three other men in the unit and none of them talked like Radcliffe.

The director of clinical operations for the region conducted an investigation that involved interviewing seven employees in the unit along with Radcliffe. She herself had been subject to a comment from Radcliffe in the past that had made her uncomfortable and the other employees reported many incidents in which Radcliffe had made inappropriate comments or made them feel uncomfortable.

Radcliffe said he had only been trying to educate the RPN about the colloquial meaning of “see you next Tuesday.” When asked about other incidents involving comments and hugging, Radcliffe said, “That’s just who I am.” He also said that some of his colleagues had talked to him about his behaviour, but no one in management had raised any concerns.

Radcliffe added that since becoming aware of the concerns of his colleagues, he had reviewed the AHS code of conduct and safe workplace policy. He said that he realized his conduct breached the policies and offered to apologize.

On Nov. 7, AHS suspended Radcliffe for five days for breaching the code of conduct and policy by making “inappropriate comments of a sexual nature towards AHS staff” and making “inappropriate unwelcome physical contact towards AHS staff.”

The union grieved the dismissal, arguing that the discipline was excessive.

The arbitrator found that Radcliffe’s conduct amounted to sexual harassment and took place in a highly professional workplace. In addition, it “involved a slang expression for one of the most objectionable words in the English language” that Radcliffe repeated to a female colleague multiple times.

The arbitrator also found that Radcliffe “over a considerable period of time, regularly engaged in sexually laden remarks and unwanted hugging with coworkers” and made light of any requests to stop. Since AHS had an obligation to maintain a safe and appropriate workplace, it was justified in implementing significant discipline, said the arbitrator.

The arbitrator noted that Radcliffe had a clean disciplinary record, but “the principle of progressive discipline does not require the lowest possible form of discipline to be imposed.” As a result, the arbitrator determined that the five-day suspension was appropriate and dismissed the grievance.