Ontario worker's firing affirmed after ongoing fight with coworker

An Ontario arbitrator has upheld the termination of a worker who had multiple altercations with a coworker, even though the coworker should have been disciplined but was not.

The worker was employed at a beef processing facility in Guelph, Ont., operated by Cargill. Hired in 2014, the worker’s job involved cutting primary cuts of meat with knives and moving them along conveyor systems.

Between April and October 2019, the worker received a one-day suspension for an unauthorized absence, two written warnings for safety violations, a two-day suspension for throwing a piece of meat at a coworker, a three-day suspension after leaving work without documentation, and a five-day suspension for once again throwing meat at a coworker.

Following the five-day suspension, Cargill warned the worker that he would be terminated for any further infractions.

In March 2020, a coworker who was friends with his girlfriend and had heard the worker had abused her confronted the worker. According to the coworker, the worker called him vulgar names on multiple occasions after that.

On March 14, the coworker tried to clear things up but the worker started insulting him and invited him to the parking lot to fight. They started arguing and name-calling but the coworker refused to fight.

Three days later, the coworker alleged that the worker made threatening, stabbing motions to a slab of meat after making eye contact.

Later that day, the worker insulted him and said, “Fight me.” The coworker walked away but the worker continued to taunt him.

A short time later, the worker came up to the coworker in a corridor, kicked him in the back of his legs and called him more vulgar names. The coworker became angry and tried to walk away but the worker tried to goad him into fighting. The coworker said that he had seen photos of bruises on the worker’s girlfriend, to which the worker responded that he had naked pictures of the coworker’s mother.

The coworker reported the matter, acknowledging that he had been angry and called the worker names but the worker kept trying to provoke him.

The worker denied calling the coworker names, challenging him to fight, kicking his legs, or stabbing the meat in a threatening manner. He said there were back-and-forth insults, but that was it.

Cargill terminated the worker for bullying. It didn’t discipline the coworker because it determined he had been provoked and he took responsibility for his behaviour.

The union grieved the dismissal, noting that the coworker was not disciplined for his role in the conflict. The worker said they were both in the wrong but only one person was fired “for nothing.”

The arbitrator found that the worker wasn’t credible and he showed a “willingness to say whatever he thought would assist him at the time he was being questioned.”

The arbitrator noted that there was “significant tension” and there were several incidents of name calling, but the worker escalated the incidents and kept trying to goad the coworker into a fight. However, much of this behaviour was provoked by the coworker “loudly and publicly accusing [him] of abusive assault of his girlfriend,” the arbitrator said.

The arbitrator found that the coworker should not have brought “personal issues and alleged misconduct outside the workplace” into the workplace and the worker’s reaction was understandable. However, the worker “was determined to create a confrontation with [the coworker] and he pursued that goal over many days,” which “was no momentary loss of control.”

The arbitrator determined that the worker’s pattern of behaviour, his disciplinary history, his failure to accept responsibility, and his attitude demonstrated that the employment relationship was no longer viable. Although it wasn’t fair that the coworker wasn’t disciplined, there was no reason to reinstate the worker, said the arbitrator.