'Most racist person I have worked with': Coworker
After a worker in Calgary’s roads department said that people who believe in God were idiots, he was terminated.
Daniel Swainston was employed in the roads labour pool as a driver/operator labourer from 2008, after a stint as a driver starting in 2005. On Aug. 19, 2016, Joe Parratino complained to management that Swainston’s comment about his religious beliefs were hurtful and insensitive.
When Swainston said, “God is stupid” to Parratino, he said it was the last straw and that Swainston had made similar comments in the past.
After the employer conducted a series of interviews, Swainston was suspended on Aug. 25. After more interviews, Swainston’s employment was terminated on Oct. 5.
“The witnesses stated that you are the most racist person and that you work in discriminatory comments into each conversation. As a result of your negative behaviour, one witness also stated that he is seeking medical attention,” read the letter of dismissal.
When he worked with Swainston in the past, Parratino heard him call a Saudi Arabian colleague a “jigaboo,” he testified.
During one shift working in Calgary’s Chinatown, Swainston made disparaging comments about Chinese persons and a colleague told him to stop because he had Asian relatives, testified one colleague.
As well, Swainston said repeatedly that “Filipinos didn’t carry their load” when referencing other co-workers.
“Dan is the most racist person I have worked (with), (he) worked in discriminatory comments into every conversation. I would rather take a day’s hit in pay than put (up) with him,” testified another co-worker.
Finally, Jawaid Israeli, a Saudi Arabian colleague, testified that he had been warned previously about working with Swainston, because he was the only visible minority on the work crew.
When Swainston was asked to clarify the comment about Israeli, he said that he might have used a pidgin term “jag avu aller,” that he had learned years ago while working in South Yemen. The term meant that workers should mind their own business, testified Swainston, and he never used the racial epithet.
And when he was asked if what he said to Parratino was inappropriate, Swainston said, “I am sorry if you were sensitive about it. I would apologize.”
The union grieved the termination and argued that because Swainston wasn’t warned about his behaviour in the past (he had a four-day suspension for an unrelated matter), it was too harsh a punishment for his comments.
Multiple employees complained about Swainston in the past, but none of them wanted to go on record, said the maintenance foreman.
Arbitrator James Casey (backed by board members William Armstrong and Graham Mahy) dismissed the grievance.
“The city has proven that (Swainston) engaged in an extensive pattern of making racist and discriminatory comments in the workplace. These comments had an extremely negative impact on many of his co-workers. We live in an era where much more is being expected of companies and organizations to eliminate racism and discrimination in our diverse, multicultural workplaces. That also means much more is expected of employees,” said Casey.
“The city has established that it had just cause for dismissal and there are insufficient mitigating factors to justify a reduction in the penalty.”
Swainston’s lacklustre apology was also cited by the arbitrator.
“Frankly, his responses with respect to the ‘apology’ significantly heightened rather than lessened concern. At the arbitration, (Swainston) denied making comments that we have found as a fact that he made. He has refused to accept any responsibility for his misconduct,” said Casey.
Reference: The Corporation of the City of Calgary and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 37. James Casey — arbitrator. Chelsea Sutherland, Rebecca Anderson for the employer. Roxana Jangi for the employee. May 9, 2018. 2018 CarswellAlta 939
