Ontario LCBO worker’s 10-day suspension reduced after physical altercation with customer

An Ontario arbitrator has ruled that a 10-day suspension to a liquor store worker for her part in an altercation with a violent customer was excessive.

Terri LeBlanc was a customer service representative (CSR) for the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO). Hired in 2010, she worked on a casual basis in an LCBO retail store. The LCBO had policies on dealing with violent customers and potential theft of merchandise and employees were trained to keep a safe distance and to never physically engage or detain an individual, in order to avoid injuries to employees and customers.

On Aug. 8, 2019, a customer trying to purchase alcohol was asked by another LCBO employee for identification, as the customer looked young. The customer resisted and became angry. Things escalated and the customer punched the employee. That employee and another employee physically wrestled the troublesome customer to the ground as the assistant manager arrived to join the fray.

LeBlanc approached as her coworkers tried to restrain the customer. She picked up a hat that the customer had been wearing and had fallen to the floor during the altercation. The customer reached out to grab his hat but a tug-of-war ensued, the struggle resumed and LeBlanc was knocked to the ground.

The customer was brought under control and told to leave the store. The customer left but then smashed one of the glass front doors. LeBlanc followed him out of the store and the customer stayed outside for some time, yelling profanities and threats back at the store employees.

The LCBO investigated the altercation, took a statement from LeBlanc, and reviewed surveillance video. It determined that LeBlanc used physical force against the customer, didn’t keep a safe distance from the altercation, physically engaged the customer in a way that led to her falling, and failed to remain inside the store after the incident, contrary to the LCBO’s policy for violent incidents and theft by customers.

On Sept. 4, the LCBO suspended LeBlanc for 10 days without pay. The suspension letter stated that LeBlanc’s statement about the incident was “not entirely accurate,”: she didn’t keep a safe distance from the violent customer and she directly contravened LCBO policies and procedures. The other two employees involved in the altercation received longer suspensions.

LeBlanc grieved the suspension as excessive, denying that she used physical force against the customer and saying that she only went outside to deal with the broken glass, which was a safety hazard.

The arbitrator found that the LCBO’s policy directing employees not to become physically involved with customers or pursue those suspected of committing theft was reasonable, but it should be enforced in a reasonably way. During the altercation, LeBlanc was mostly a bystander and wasn’t physically involved with the efforts to restrain or subdue the customer, the arbitrator said.

However, the arbitrator noted that LeBlanc had some culpability, as she should have let go of the customer’s hat when he reached for it. Her failure to do so led to her falling to the ground. The arbitrator also found that LeBlanc violated the theft policy by following the customer out of the store, regardless of the reason, so some discipline was warranted.

“Even if [LeBlanc’s] stated rationale for exiting the store at that juncture is accepted and happened with the best of intentions, she violated the policy and potentially left herself in a potentially vulnerable scenario as the customer had remained outside the store, still acting in an agitated and angry manner towards the LCBO personnel in the store,” said the arbitrator.

The arbitrator determined that LeBlanc’s 10-day suspension was excessive. The LCBO was ordered to reduce the suspension to one day and compensate LeBlanc for the lost nine days of pay, if necessary.