Verbal abuse valid reason to impose discipline, despite record: Arbitrator
When an Edmonton hospital worker realized Christmas decorations were being moved to another floor, she made a nasty comment to the co-worker charged with organizing the effort.
Louise Cummings worked at the University of Alberta Hospital in Edmonton as a unit clerk in the medical outpatient unit. On Dec. 7, 2015, she noticed Christmas decorations were scheduled to be moved to another floor. The unit was about to undergo an expansion and Tania Weiss, accommodation planner at Alberta Health Service, was overseeing the project.
Cummings approached Weiss and some movers and accused them of ruining Christmas by removing the decorations from the unit.
She said to Weiss, “I hope that you and your family have a horrible Christmas this year.” The comment was also heard by Stacey Moorehouse, manager for acute care coverage for Edmonton.
Moorehouse told Cummings that the remarks were unacceptable and she would speak with her later about it. Cummings continued to lash out to fellow employees and at 11 a.m., she again spoke with Moorehouse.
Cummings said that moving the decorations was very traumatic to her and it made her upset. Cummings said Weiss was doing a poor job managing the move and she should be fired.
After an investigation and another talk with Cummings, Moorehouse issued a written reprimand: “This disciplinary letter of warning is the result of an investigation into concerns of disrespectful and unprofessional behaviour towards your colleagues. This behaviour is unacceptable. In future, it is expected that you communicate with your manager and work colleagues in as respectful and professional manner as possible.”
On March 7, the union, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, filed a grievance alleging Cummings was a 31-year veteran with no record of previous discipline and the letter was unwarranted. It said she should have been given more counselling in order to correct her behaviour.
Moorehouse had previously coached Cummings about her attitude and her practice of sometimes hanging up too early on people after she spoke on the phone.
As well, Cummings was advised her interactions with the public were sometimes inappropriate.
In a performance review completed in 2016, Moorehouse wrote that while Cummings “cares deeply for both patients and other team members,” occasionally her performance would “come and go — she would improve and then she would relapse.”
On the day of the incident with Weiss, Cummings was not happy with the move as well as having her computer out of service. She testified that Christmas decorations had gone missing during a previous move, which exacerbated her bad feelings.
Cummings said she was “sick about the way that the move went. It was beyond frustration and sadness. It was not a good day. It was like being in an accident — just sickening.”
Arbitrator Dev Chankasingh dismissed the grievance.
“I find that Cummings’ comment to Weiss on Dec. 7 amounts to verbal abuse and gave the employer just cause to discipline the grievor. The employer’s issuance of the letter of warning was warranted in the circumstances.”
Despite Cumming’s unblemished career, Chankasingh said the stressful moving day should have been better handled by the employee.
“Long service can be a two-edged sword: It can be argued that, as a senior employee with 31 years of service, Cummings should have known better than to verbally abuse a co-worker; she should have conducted herself as an exemplar for junior employees. Therefore, Cummings’ long service by itself cannot justify a non-disciplinary sanction.”
Cummings’ past actions showed that it was not the first time she had issues with her demeanour while on the job.
“However, in Cummings’ most recent performance appraisal completed by Moorehouse, she also commented that ‘As discussed, it would be beneficial for her to modify her temperament and be more approachable when working under pressure and feeling stressed.’
"In my view, this demonstrates that while Cummings was undoubtedly an excellent employee, she had an issue controlling her temper when working in stressful situations," said Chankasingh
Reference: Alberta Health Services and Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. Dev Chankasingh — arbitrator. Kevin Werstiuk, Inderpal Virdee for the employer. William Rigutto for the employee. Sept. 21, 2017.
