Claimed fall in parking lot caused damage but video showed otherwise
After he suffered a separated shoulder just before he was scheduled to begin a shift, a worker at the Deere-Hitachi Specialty Products manufacturing facility in Langley, B.C., lied when he informed his employer about why the injury happened.
James Nixon had worked at the company since June 26, 2017, when on Nov. 10 he drove into the company parking lot at 12:30 p.m., well in time to make his 1 p.m. shift start as a paint technician.
Nixon checked in with the office, and then he returned to his car for a final cigarette before he began work. At around 12:50 p.m., he left his car but turned around to throw his jacket onto the back seat.
The motion caused his shoulder to separate, which Nixon testified registered a 9.8 on a pain scale of one to 10.
Because this wasn’t the first time it happened to Nixon, he testified, so he knew he had to go to hospital immediately, because the first-aid office at Deere-Hitachi would not be equipped to handle such an injury.
Nixon phoned his brother to take him to the hospital and his brother arrived on-site around 1:12 p.m.
While waiting for his brother to arrive at the job site, Nixon called the main office number and left a message.
Nixon then texted his friend, Chris McGovern, who worked at Deere-Hitachi and asked him to notify his supervisor that he wouldn’t be working that day.
“Tell him I signed in but I fell on my way back to my car,” wrote Nixon in the message to McGovern.
Around 1:20 p.m., Terri Gander-Rowe, HR manager, was advised that Nixon was injured and she phoned him. Nixon told her that he had fallen in the parking lot.
Gander-Rowe then began an investigation into the parking lot video, to see if she could determine exactly what happened.
After the video footage was examined, the employer found no evidence Nixon actually fell.
Al Quadling, production supervisor, met with Nixon on Nov. 14 to further inquire about the incident. Again, Nixon said he fell in the parking lot. Nixon also said he wouldn’t be filing a worker’s compensation claim and he needed two weeks away from work, as per doctor’s orders.
Another meeting happened on Nov. 22, when Gander-Rowe asked Nixon to again explain what happened. Quadling and a union steward were also supposed to be in attendance.
When Nixon arrived, he found only Gander-Rowe was in the room, so he decided to tell the truth. “There is something I have to tell you. I didn’t fall in the parking lot,” said Nixon.
When asked why he didn’t tell the truth immediately after the injury, Nixon said he was “embarrassed.”
The employer issued Nixon an indefinite suspension and on Nov. 27, he was terminated.
The union, the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), Local 115, grieved the decision and argued the punishment was too harsh and progressive discipline was a better option. The employer argued because Nixon lied five times about the injury, dismissal was acceptable.
Arbitrator John McConchie upheld the grievance and ordered Deere-Hitachi to reinstate Nixon but without back pay.
“(Nixon’s) offence, being dishonesty, was serious, but it was not among the most serious of the dishonesty offences. (Nixon’s) decision to spare himself embarrassment and the potential disbelief of the employer was foolish and dishonest, but it does not put him beyond redemption with this employer. His lie did not mask an underlying wrong, such as theft, or even that he had the ability to attend work but decided not to do so at the last moment,” said McConchie.
Because he has apologized repeatedly, Nixon would most likely not do it again, said the arbitrator. “I also conclude that (Nixon) was and is remorseful and now understands how his truly bone-headed idea could cause so much trouble for his employer.”
Reference: Deere-Hitachi Specialty Products and International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), Local 115 . John McConchie — arbitrator. Michael Kilgallin for the employer. Brett Matthews for the employee. March 19, 2018.
