CBS should have disciplined employee earlier: Arbitrator
A technician with the Canadian Blood Services (CBS) office in Saint John, N.B, was fired after the employer believed he manipulated the system to be paid for call-backs that weren’t required.
The matter first came to light in July 2015 when it was discovered Mynor London, who had 10-and-a-half years of service with CBS, was responsible for 40 per cent of the call-backs for four staff members at the CBS office in Saint John.
During a meeting, he was advised the 7 a.m. delivery option was not to be offered for routine orders if it would trigger a call-back.
(CBS workers typically received a call-back after they left work at the end of their shifts to return to the office early in the morning to prepare a blood delivery for a hospital.)
In August, a set of guidelines was issued that said: “No ‘routine’ orders should result in a call-back.” Only STAT or ASAP orders would trigger a call-back, as those orders from hospitals constituted an emergency, according to the new rules.
But in 2016, two call-backs (May 5 and 6) were questioned by staff and CBS, and an investigation was launched.
London said he called Georges-L.-Dumont hospital in Moncton on May 5 to offer them expiring blood products. He claimed he offered them two options for delivery, one of which would result in a call-back that London would claim for extra pay, as per the collective agreement which promised time and one-half pay for a minimum of three hours for any overtime.
Véronique Savoie, laboratory technologist in the hematology department, testified she was told by London to write the order as: “7 a.m. bus, STAT,” on the form and it would be delivered first thing next morning.
Carolyn Sweetland, laboratory assistant at the Dartmouth, N.S., facility of CBS, testified she thought London “was trying to manipulate a call-back” as the order would normally be considered routine.
Another order on May 6 was offered to the hospital by London that resulted in a call-back to fill the order for a 7 a.m. delivery.
London was terminated after a July 7 meeting.
“You have deliberately engaged in behaviour that resulted in you being called back to the workplace when it was not required. Your behaviour ranged from manipulating departmental guidelines to your personal advantage, to recently instructing a hospital how to complete orders on May 5 and 6, 2016,” said a letter he was given from CBS.
“Your behaviour has irreparably broken the trust inherent in any viable working relationship, especially when you are required to work alone with little to no supervision. Given the foregoing, your employment with Canadian Blood Services is hereby terminated, effective immediately," according to the letter.
The union, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 2069, grieved the firing and argued London was “unjustly” dealt with.
Arbitrator Michel Doucet disagreed and ordered the dismissal to stand. “London knew that his conduct was wrong. He had been explicitly told during the July 2015 meeting with the employer that ‘routine’ orders should not justify call-backs. He had seen the guidelines that the employer had issued in 2015. He knew or should have known that the order for expiring platelets of May 5 should have been marked ‘routine,’ but he advised the client to indicate ‘STAT.’”
But CBS should have been more forceful in its earlier discussion with London, said Doucet.
“In hindsight, the employer should maybe have imposed formal discipline on London in July 2015 for what it considered as an improper use of call-backs. It hoped that by making matters clearer to London, that he would bring the appropriate corrections and that the issue would be resolved. The message did not seem to get through and London continued to ignore the warnings he had received.”
Reference: Canadian Blood Services and Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 2069. Michel Doucet — arbitrator. Christopher Stewart for the employer. Michael Davidson for the employee. May 1, 2017.
