Two other workers terminated for similar incidents
A grocery selector was terminated after security footage showed he ate one chocolate bar from a damaged box without management approval.
Joe Raimondo, who had worked at the West Mall Grocery Distribution Centre in Toronto since 2004, had no disciplinary infractions on his record, but on Jan. 28, 2017, new security cameras were installed at the Metro Ontario warehouse.
The employer had suspected aisle 42 — where confectionary items were stored in the 874,000-square-foot facility — was an area worth watching due to potential employee theft.
On Feb. 1, Metro management observed suspicious activity by Raimondo and other employees in aisle 42.
Ken Hann, manager of West Mall grocery operations, met with Raimondo on Feb. 7 and he asked him if he had ever “taken product from the facility.”
Raimondo said he didn’t take anything out, but when he was asked if he ever ate anything, he said he may have eaten a chocolate bar on two occasions during his time at Metro.
Hann asked him if he did so on Feb. 1, and Raimondo replied he might have. When asked for an explanation, Raimondo said the box was broken and it was going to be thrown out, so he didn’t see the harm in taking one chocolate bar with a retail value of $2.49.
But Hann pointed out the company circulated a long-standing memo — which was updated on Jan. 26, 2016 — that read: “The shrinkage due to theft, grazing or consumption of product increases the financial burden already being experienced due to hard economic times. It is imperative that these practices stop immediately! Theft includes theft of company property, grazing and pilfering. An employee committing any of these offences will be terminated.”
The memo was signed by all workers in the distribution centre, including Raimondo, according to Metro management.
Despite his pleas for leniency during the interview, Raimondo was terminated on Feb. 10.
Hann testified that two other employees were also terminated that day for theft of chocolate bars.
The union, Unifor, Local 414, grieved the decision and argued Raimondo’s long service of 13 years and his previously unblemished record should have entitled him to lesser punishment.
Raimondo testified he initially denied the theft because he wasn’t quite sure of the definition and he believed it was acceptable to consume product destined for the garbage.
Raimondo acknowledged the theft eventually and claimed he exercised “bad judgment” when he took the bar.
But Hann testified that Metro did not throw out all products when a box was damaged. If it could be repackaged and put out for sale it usually was, he said. Or if the package was beyond salvaging, it was sent back to the supplier for a refund, said Hann.
Arbitrator Michael Bendel disallowed the grievance and upheld the termination.
“I do not quarrel with the argument that this was a ‘momentary aberration’ by an otherwise valued and honest employee. I do not regard him as a fundamentally dishonest person, merely a person who, for whatever reason, gave in to the temptation of obtaining a chocolate bar for free,” said Bendel.
Raimondo’s long service was considered, but his time with Metro was not as long as other similar cases where it made a difference, said Bendel.
“It is a sad case and I feel sorry for (Raimondo). But I am satisfied that it would be wrong to allow my natural sympathy for him to take precedence over the employer’s legitimate interest in holding a firm line on employee theft so that other employees will thereby be deterred from engaging in such behaviour.”
The employer’s legitimate business concern of stopping employee larceny must be respected, said Bendel.
“Where there is a valid employer interest in adopting and enforcing a firm policy on employee theft, and where the policy has been adequately brought to the attention of employees, the reinstatement of the employee would undermine the employer’s legitimate interest in deterring employee theft. It is not appropriate for the arbitrator to ‘exercise compassion’ and reinstate the employee in the face of a disciplinary measure that is just and reasonable.”
Reference: Metro Ontario and Unifor, Local 414. Michael Bendel — arbitrator. Chuck Robertson for the employer. Doug Orr for the employee. Sept. 29, 2017.
