Worker bites off more than he can chew

Hospital cleaner and co-worker caught taking food from kitchen

This instalment of You Make the Call looks at a hospital worker who was caught on video stealing food from the hospital’s kitchen.

Angelo Winstone, a father of four dependent children, was a housekeeper at the hospital.

He had been employed at the hospital since 2004. His duties included cleaning the catering department’s kitchen and food storage area.

The hospital received reports from kitchen staff that food had gone missing, so it installed a camera to monitor the area. On March 30, 2008, Winstone and a co-worker were filmed eating food in the kitchen. Winstone was also filmed putting wrapped food into his coat pocket and leaving with it.

On April 9, 2008, hospital management asked Winstone and his co-worker if they had removed and eaten food from the kitchen. Both workers denied it but after further questioning, Winstone admitted he had eaten some pizza and left the kitchen with chicken wings wrapped and hidden in his coat. His co-worker conceded he had nibbled on some food but not taken any, although Winstone eventually said he gave the chicken wings to his co-worker in the employee change room.

The hospital felt Winstone was the main person responsible for the food theft as he had eaten the pizza and taken food with him, while the co-worker had only nibbled in the kitchen. Winstone had also failed to admit his misconduct until presented with the video evidence and seemed to show remorse only when he was caught. The co-worker, who had a good disciplinary record and more seniority, received a five-day suspension that was later reduced to three days. Winstone was fired.
You Make the Call

Should Winstone have been fired for eating and taking food?
OR
Was his firing too harsh and lesser discipline similar to his co-worker’s more appropriate?


If you said a suspension was more appropriate than firing under the circumstances, you’re right. The arbitrator agreed Winstone didn’t show remorse that he had committed the misconduct and didn’t admit to it when initially questioned by hospital management. He was also relatively new at the hospital and didn’t have a “lengthy period of good behaviour to support an argument that what occurred was an anomaly.”

However, the arbitrator felt Winstone was unfairly given the primary role in theft and the co-worker had a bigger role than the hospital attributed to him. The video showed the co-worker pointing to the wrapped chicken wings before Winstone took them and Winstone admitted he gave the wings to the co-worker later. The arbitrator felt Winstone was covering for his more senior colleague and as a result received a disproportionate amount of discipline: termination while his co-worker received a three-day suspension.

“(Winstone) was found by the employer to be the sole thief when he was not and the only person to benefit from stolen product when he was not. I am also not convinced that he was, in fact, the main architect of the theft,” the arbitrator said. “(Winstone’s) colleague played a far greater role in the theft of the product and I am convinced that he benefited from the theft.”

The arbitrator agreed Winstone’s misconduct was serious and warranted discipline and it could be considered just cause for termination. However, considering he was the sole provider for his four children and he was blamed for being the sole thief when he was not, the arbitrator determined Winstone deserved a second chance.

The arbitrator ordered the hospital to reinstate Winstone to his employment after he served a 12-week suspension for theft and lying. However, he ordered Winstone to sign a “last chance agreement,” valid for three years, which stated he would not repeat his misconduct and if he did, he would be fired for just cause. The agreement also allowed the hospital’s security staff to search his personal property during working hours to ensure there was no further theft. See University Health Network v. C.U.P.E., 2008 CarswellOnt 3327 (Ont. Arb. Bd.).

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