Employee thought purloined pastry was his
After a single piece of pie went missing from a communal employee fridge at an Edmonton Sobeys' warehouse, an order selector was dismissed for the theft.
It was discovered a worker identified as “A.B.” appeared to have removed the pie slice from the fridge on Dec. 14, 2015. He was terminated Dec. 21 under the company’s zero-tolerance policy.
Delaina Macneill worked as a cashier in the cafeteria when she bought a single piece of pie and placed it in the fridge to be eaten at her next break. Later, when she attempted to retrieve it, the slice was gone.
An investigation of the store security videotapes by Scott Beauchesne, operations manager, showed two employees accessed the fridge between 9 a.m. and noon, when Macneill returned to eat the pie.
The other worker grabbed something from the bottom shelf, but Beauchesne testified A.B. grabbed something that looked like a piece of pie from the top shelf, where Macneill said she left her piece.
But during the investigation, A.B. claimed he purchased the pie on a previous shift and had left it in there to be consumed the next time he was working, which was Monday.
There was a disagreement on which shift the pie was purchased: Beauchesne reviewed videotapes and saw A.B. purchased only french fries on the Sunday shift.
A.B. claimed that he might have purchased the pie during his previous shift (which was on a Thursday) but he was unclear.
He maintained that the pie he ate was his property.
But A.B.’s repeated requests to see the tape for Sunday and the tape for Thursday were denied.
He reported a threat made by another employee to him on Sunday, and A.B. said he was flustered and stressed during the following week while the investigation was ongoing.
At the time, A.B. felt the supervisor did not take his allegations seriously enough.
A.B. said he believed the initial investigation meeting on Dec. 14 was to discuss the threat.
After A.B. was let go on Dec. 21, he wrote a letter later that day: “I again apologize for taking the slice of pie and I am willing to pay the cost of the pie to whichever employee it belonged to. I am sorry I did it and would like a second chance.”
The company cited another case that same month, in which two employees were fired for stealing another’s orange juice boxes, which had been purchased and left clearly labelled with his name in a fridge.
The union, United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401, grieved the decision and argued it was excessive. A.B. had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was also battling addiction issues.
It asked for $35,000 in damages to be awarded to A.B. and a further $20,000 to the union.
Arbitrator Francis Price upheld the grievance and awarded $15,000 to A.B. for mental damages and $5,000 to the union for breaching the collective agreement.
A.B. was also reinstated to his job with all lost wages restored and his seniority intact.
“A.B.’s requests and (Sobeys’ Code of Business Conduct and Ethics) requirement for investigation ‘in a manner that respects all of the parties involved’ was not met. Beauchesne’s refusal or failure to even check the Thursday video as requested and to show the grievor and shop steward did not meet the code of conduct and so breached the collective agreement,” said Price.
“A.B.’s belief — that he had purchased the piece of pie on the Sunday — may have been mistaken and possibly disproved by the video (though not shown to A.B., nor at the hearing). But with no video available, I do not accept that A.B. was lying, but find it is more probable, in all of the circumstances of the Monday meetings, that A.B. was confused as to when he might have purchased the pie and stored it in the fridge.”
By not reviewing the Thursday tape, the employer “failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that A.B. had that intent and so committed theft,” said Price.
“This failure of the employer to prove the issue of theft is compounded by the employer’s failure to provide the security videos from the Monday, Sunday and Thursday in question.”
Reference: Sobeys Capital and United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401. Francis Price — arbitrator. Adam Kaukas for the employer. David Williams for the employee. May 29, 2017.
