Witness described 'attacking' voice during confrontation
An operator at the Akzo Nobel specialty chemicals plant in Saskatoon was terminated on the same day he was participating in company-ordered counselling for “inappropriate” behaviour.
Kevin Murr worked for the company for 18 years with no discipline on his record except for a warning regarding an incident in 2016.
On Nov. 15, 2016, Murr was directed by Louis Knaus, operations manager, to clean up a chemical spill with another worker. Later in the lunchroom, he approached Ila Klassen, plant manager, about the incident and Murr said he shouldn’t have received blame for the spill.
He was loud and made other employees feel uncomfortable with his voice, but the incident only lasted about 30 seconds before Murr left the lunchroom.
The following day, he went up to Klassen and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.”
Murr received a written discipline level on Nov. 17 that read: “The volume of your voice was loud and it was described by a witness as attacking. You initiated this interaction in an inappropriate location, at an inappropriate time, and in an inappropriate way.”
On Dec. 12, Murr phoned Line Poulin, manager of the human resource centre in Quebec, about his benefits. He wanted to have his daughter’s name removed as she had moved out and he was no longer covering her medical costs. Murr didn’t want to pay for coverage that he wasn’t using.
Poulin testified Murr was “rude” and “loud” during their conversation, as she was not the correct person to help him and he was annoyed at the benefits letter being in French, which he didn’t understand.
Poulin said she felt he was being discriminatory toward her.
Later, Murr testified he wasn’t being discriminatory and he had a French background, including French parents.
Klassen spoke with Poulin about the incident via email. She asked: “Did you find his voice to be loud?” and she received the following response: “At the beginning yes, but I wasn’t, so he corrected his tone.”
Murr was given a one-day suspension for his behaviour on Dec. 20. The letter said: “This is the second such interaction between yourself and another employee where your behaviour was inappropriate.”
The company offered Murr counselling for his repeated bad behaviour and he said he was open to receiving such help.
On Jan. 6, 2017, the union, The Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP), Local 609, informed the company it wished to grieve the suspension.
The grievance was eventually presented to management on Jan. 16, but the employer rejected it because the time limit for the grievances had already expired on Jan. 13.
A team-building session took place on Jan. 17, and it included Murr, who was directed to partner with a trusted colleague for a one-on-one session.
However, when it was suggested Murr pair with Klassen, he said, “I’m not working with her. I’m not comfortable with her.”
The following day, Klassen and Knaus had a discussion about Murr and the decision was made to terminate him.
The union grieved the termination on Jan. 23.
Arbitrator William Hood upheld the grievance and ordered Akzo Nobel to reinstate Murr and compensate him for any losses incurred. “I have found that there was no behaviour or conduct that warranted discipline. (Murr’s) employment is intact and it is not a question or substituting a different penalty.”
When Murr said he didn’t want to have Klassen as a partner in the team-building session, this didn’t constitute harassment, according to Hood.
“To (Murr), having been disciplined two times by Klassen since November, and rebuffed the prior afternoon when she refused to accept his grievance, this was rubbing salt into the wound.”
A post-dismissal discovery that Murr had used the corporate credit card for personal expenses (which were all paid off by him) cannot be considered to further justify the firing, said the arbitrator.
“In my view, the just and reasonable penalty for the misuse of the corporate credit card would be to give (Murr) the benefit of the doubt and substitute the termination with the warning to only use the corporate credit card for business purposes going forward.”
Reference: Akzo Nobel Chemicals and Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union, Local 609. William Hood — arbitrator. Leah Schatz for the employer. Gary Bainbridge for the employee. Nov. 1, 2017.
