Employee exposed company to 'significant embarrassment and reputational harm': Arbitrator
A part-time bus driver in Halifax wrote disparaging online comments about a community, causing management to fire her.
Gail McQuarrie’s comments on Facebook about North Preston — a largely African-Canadian community with a history of racism — were the subject of an anonymous complaint received by Eddie Robar, director of Halifax Transit, on May 3, 2015.
The posting was in response to a comment from another driver, maligning the state of cleanliness along a route: “Pride in self, pride community. Guess we know how some think of themselves. Personally I could not live like that. I’d either have to go clean it up or move out,” wrote McQuarrie.
Printed copies of the posting circulated among various workers who said they felt hurt by the comments. Calvin Simmons, who lived in North Preston, confronted McQuarrie on May 29, resulting in an argument.
Two other drivers were also investigated regarding the posting. One started the thread by listing various pieces of garbage he saw on the side of the road. The other then replied with a list of what he saw. Finally, McQuarrie’s comments were added.
The other drivers were given coaching about the appropriateness of making such comments on a public forum such as Facebook.
During her May 28 interview with supervisor Kerri Howells, McQuarrie was said to be defensive, didn’t show sufficient remorse and failed to recognize how the comments would demean an entire community.
Howells said McQuarrie blamed driver Terry Thomas as the instigator of the complaint, instead of immediately apologizing. McQuarrie said she tried to apologize during the interview, but was told not to bother as the investigation was ongoing.
She also wrote a letter of apology to Robar, but she said that was ignored.
McQuarrie was finally let go via letter on June 4. She had served a three-day suspension and a nine-day suspension in 2013 after various complaints about her conduct while driving were received from the public. These were listed as further reasons for her dismissal.
At the time she was let go, McQuarrie was 22 days away from having the previous suspensions removed via the sunset clause.
The union, Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 508, grieved the firing and argued comments made during the investigation should not be considered racist, because Howells misunderstood McQuarrie’s intention when she mused about who wrote the complaint.
McQuarrie said she was referring to the level of skill it would take to write such an articulate letter, not the person’s skin colour. She had helped Thomas previously draft a letter and as a former teacher, she said she was aware of a lot of drivers’ proficiency with the language.
Arbitrator Kathryn Raymond upheld the grievance as an “excessive response.” A 30-day suspension was ordered as the appropriate discipline for writing the post, and McQuarrie was reinstated to her position, with 75 per cent of her lost wages to be paid.
The public comments were harmful to the employer, said Raymond: “McQuarrie created a situation whereby she has exposed her employer to an ongoing risk of significant embarrassment and reputational harm.”
But the other driver’s posting were not given the same treatment as McQuarrie’s, which was unfair, according to the arbitrator.
“I have a concern that the employer’s assumption that McQuarrie’s post was the worst, because of the reaction of two co-workers, too quickly accelerated the employer’s conclusion that termination was warranted,” said Raymond. “Had Howells considered these facts, she likely would and should have concluded that immediate termination of McQuarrie was not warranted by the Facebook post.”
Reference: Halifax (Regional Municipality) and Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 508. Kathryn Raymond — arbitrator. Randolph Kinghorne for the employer. Kimberley Turner for the employee. Feb. 17, 2017.
