Claimed he paid $150 for box worth thousands
A coach operator based in Kamloops, B.C., was terminated from his job after the employer discovered he was being questioned by the RCMP in regards to a box of missing fishing flies.
Mark Miller had 13 years’ experience with Greyhound Canada Transportation when on April 27, 2016, a box of flies that was scheduled to be delivered via bus from the distributor to a retail outlet in Little Fort, B.C., went missing.
The shipment’s value was $4,455.97.
On June 28, Miller placed an ad on Craigslist in which he asked for $3,000 for the flies, which he had valued in the ad at nearly $6,000.
On July 26, an RCMP officer went to the Coquitlam station to investigate the missing goods. Brad Scott, Greyhound’s district manager, told the police that they had no passengers on the trip in question named Mark Miller, but the driver of that shipment had that name.
Const. Charlene Gladue visited Miller’s house and found only his son was home. The son called Miller who spoke with Gladue the next day. She arrived back at his home July 27 to retrieve the stolen property.
At no time did Miller contact Greyhound to inform them of what happened.
On Aug. 18, Gladue emailed Scott to update him on the investigation: “His story to me (over the phone) was that he bought it from a guy on the street near the bus station, but couldn’t give any description of this person.”
The company directed Protect Security to conduct an investigation on Aug. 29.
Miller was suspended with pay on Sept. 1.
After a telephone call and a meeting, Miller was terminated on Sept. 16 by letter, which read: “You are in possession of stolen property and to suggest that by random chance a shipment in the possession of your employer was purchased on the street a day or two after it went missing from our facility is absolutely not credible and a woefully inadequate explanation of how the shipment came into your possession.”
It further stated that Miller’s “conduct and behaviour are a breach of employee trust.”
The union, Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1374, grieved the decision and argued there was no proof that Miller knew the box was stolen or went missing from Greyhound.
Gladue testified that Miller couldn’t provide a description of the man he bought the flies from for $150, during her initial conversation, but when he later testified, a detailed description of the man Miller claimed sold him the box was provided.
Arbitrator Lyle Kanee dismissed the grievance. “Miller’s dishonesty is ‘fundamentally or directly inconsistent’ with his employment obligations to Greyhound.
Termination is a just and reasonable penalty in all of the circumstances.”
The testimony provided by Miller was crucial in establishing his lack of credibility, according to Kanee. “Miller’s description of the seller and the sales transaction became clearer and more detailed with the passage of time. Initially, he expressed an inability to describe the seller at all but by the time of the hearing, a very specific, detailed description of his looks, height, complexion, and clothing was provided. Similarly, very little detail about his conversation with the seller was provided before his testimony on June 2.”
And Miller’s account of the transaction was not credible, according to the arbitrator.
“He claims not to be suspicious in this case, after someone on the street, about a block from the Greyhound station, sells him a box of flies with a wholesale value of $4,500 for $150 and claims he got it from a friend who owed him money," said Kanee.
Reference: Greyhound Canada Transportation and Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1374. Lyle Kanee — arbitrator. Michael Ford for the employer. Jim Fyshe for the employee. Aug. 14, 2017.
