Evidence showed worker’s complaints played a role in her dismissal a short time later
An Ontario charitable society must pay a former employee $15,000 for her dismissing her as a reprisal for the employee’s health and safety complaints, the Ontario Labour Relations Board has ruled.
Leah Podobnik worked with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Stores, a Roman Catholic charitable organization that ran three stores in Ottawa stocked with various types of goods donated by the public and whose proceeds supported summer camps, soup kitchens, and overseas missions. Hired in 2011, Podobnik was a supervisor of the book room at one of St. Vincent’s stores downtown, where donated used books were organized for sale in the main store. She was responsible for sorting, assessing, and pricing the books, as well as discarding any that were in poor condition.
Podobnik initially had as many as four employees plus some volunteers under her supervision, but this was cut to one employee. She also organized community side projects, such as a children’s literary program at a local school and a reading program for seniors.
Since she began working in the book room, Podobnik raised concerns with the society about the air quality, as it was in the basement of the store. She wanted the air tested, but this didn’t happen. Early in 2014 there was sewer leakage that led to the odour of sewer gas, even after the leakage was repaired The odour was worst in the elevator, so Podobnik used the staircase to transport books to the main floor store. There was no joint health and safety committee at the store.
In January 2015, Podobnik’s hours were reduced from 40 hours per week to 32 as the society tried to cut costs.
In spring 2015, Podobnik had had enough with the air quality in the book room and contacted the Ministry of Labour to make a health and safety complaint. An inspector assessed the store’s basement and issued 12 orders to the society relating to compliance under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. By September, the society still hadn’t complied with the order to have a joint health and safety committee, so a forum was set for workers to choose one. Podobnik was elected to be the worker member on the committee.
An industrial hygienist also inspected the basement book room and ordered the air quality be improved.
On Oct. 18, 2015, the one employee Podobnik supervised was re-assigned to the trucking department to help pick up and deliver donations, which happened occasionally as necessary. This left Podobnik alone to process books, but the day before a large donation of 30 boxes of books had arrived and Podobnik felt this was an “insurmountable task” and a safety hazard. Podobnik contacted the assistant manager and said she couldn’t process so many books and she would call the Ministry of Labour if necessary.
The assistant manager issued her a disciplinary warning, as Podobnik was raising her voice and refusing to process the books alone. When she discussed it with the society’s executive director, he told her if she felt the work was unsafe, she should just quit. Podobnik replied that he was trying to intimidate her.
The next day, the executive director announced the society would be restructuring and expanding. The basement book room was being amalgamated with the housewares department and Podobnik would no longer be a supervisor, instead reporting to the manager of housewares. Podobnik had no warning of the change and felt shamed at her public demotion.
On Nov. 10, the society terminated Podobnik’s employment, stating that her position had become redundant in the restructuring and expansion. It claimed it only needed one employee for the book room, and the employee that had worked under Podobnik was being retained because of his lower salary. It provided Podobnik four weeks of termination pay.
Podobnik filed a labour complaint, claiming she was dismissed because of her health and safety complaints both to the society and the Ministry of Labour.
The board found that the evidence indicated the society didn’t take Podobnik’s health and safety concerns seriously and the executive director thought her refusal to work when she had the large donation of books to process was frivolous and unfounded. However, management’s opinion didn’t matter if Podobnik’s work refusal was in good faith, which the board believed it was.
Since the board found Podobnik’s concerns were legitimate and she honestly believed in them, the disciplinary warning she was given was a violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act’s prohibition of reprisals and the society should have inquired into the matter, said the board.
The board also found that the society’s stated reason for dismissing Podobnik — restructuring — was called into doubt by the fact she had been involved in health and safety complaints to the Ministry of Labour and a work refusal. This was emphasized by the fact the society also was expanding as part of its restructuring, which meant it was hiring more employees. Rather than offering Podobnik another position, the society dismissed her, leaving “no doubt in my mind that in terminating Ms. Podobnik on Nov. 10, 2015, the society engaged in reprisal misconduct contrary” to the act, said the board.
