CP Rail’s test for vision-impaired conductor ‘flawed’: Arbitrator

A conductor and locomotive engineer who suffers from a vision impairment was given a clean bill of health to return to his normal operations by an arbitrator after CP Rail’s testing process was found to be flawed.

The conductor, whose name was not provided given that the hearing pertains to his disability, suffered from a "non-degenerative mild-to-moderate colour vision defect," according to arbitrator Christine Schmidt — the second time she has presided over the conductor’s case.

The first hearing found that CP Rail had restricted the conductor’s duties following an outdated directive from the chief medical officer.

The conductor’s duties were restricted in July of 2012, despite the medical officer lifting the concern.

At the time, the company cited safety concerns.

So Schmidt ruled the company conduct an on-track evaluation — after which this second grievance was filed.

After he completed the two-week assessment, the conductor was informed that there had not been a sufficient number of tours for the supervisor to reach a conclusion.

Making matters worse is that the testing process was faulty itself.

After sifting through details of the assessment, Schmidt determined CP Rail had focused too narrowly on an "unremarkable" event, which would not have affected his ability to do his job.

"The company’s position on this unremarkable event, which posed absolutely no risk whatsoever, was that somehow (the) conductor could put a train at risk since it could not stop at that speed were the signal ‘stop’ instead of ‘clear.’ That is misleading," Schmidt explained in her ruling.

The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference union contended that the railway failed to provide a "fair assessment," which was conducted or implemented unfairly.

Schmidt agreed and dismissed the grievance.

She ordered any restrictions on the conductor be lifted and, going forward, that any conductors or locomotive engineers with the same condition be pardoned in the same manner.