You make the call
This instalment of You Make the Call features an employee who wasn’t happy that he was laid off when his regular job was cut but someone else was hired for a job he was helping to do on an interim basis.
Dale Erickson was hired by the Onion Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan on Aug. 20, 2015, on a contract basis, to be the supervisor of the band’s new community safety officer program. The job entailed enforcing bylaws and customary traditional spiritual laws the band council passed, investigating bylaw complaints, and supervising the three working community safety officers — who were recruited from the band’s fire rescue and peacekeepers program. The new community safety officer program wasn’t funded by the government, so Erickson and other band employees had to look for other sources of funding for the program, such as fines that were imposed and the band’s heritage trust.
A little while later, the manager of the band’s fire rescue and peacekeepers program resigned, so Erickson and another person were appointed interim managers of this program until a permanent manager could be found.
Onion Lake Cree Nation expected a government grant to help fund the community safety officer program, but the in early 2017 the Saskatchewan government confirmed that there was no grant money available for the program. Revenues from the heritage fund were down as well from a drop in oil prices, so the band decided it couldn’t afford to maintain the program — by early 2017, the community safety officer program was operating at a deficit of more than $160,000.
Given the funding problems and the band’s concerns of potential liability, it decided to discontinue the community officer safety program. It informed Erickson that his contract would not be extended and his last day of employment would be Jan. 24, 2017. The community safety officers under his supervision were transferred back to their previous positions in the band’s fire rescue and peacekeepers program.
Shortly after Erickson’s termination, a new employee was hired to be a part-time supervisor in the fire rescue and peacekeepers program, which had a lower salary than what Erickson was making.
Erickson filed a complaint of unjust dismissal, saying the hiring of a new employee after he was dismissed showed there wasn’t a discontinuance of his function and Onion Lake Cree Nation didn’t have a reason to terminate his employment under the Canada Labour Code.
You Make the Call
Was Erickson dismissed due to a discontinuance of his function?
OR
Was Erickson unjustly dismissed?
If you said Erickson was dismissed due to a discontinuance of his function and Onion Creek Cree Nation had a legitimate reason to terminate his employment, you’re right. The adjudicator noted that the Canada Labour Code does not allow for without-cause dismissal, but employers can lay off employees for economic reasons and in good faith. Though Erickson was given duties in the fire rescue and peacekeepers program, this was on an interim basis and only until a new manager was hired. His main job for which he was hired was to supervise the community safety officer program, which the band decided to discontinue due to a lack of funding. With the program discontinued, it made sense for Erickson to be the employee to be laid off, said the adjudicator.
“There was an economic justification for the discontinuation of the community safety officer program and it was a bona fide discontinuation of a function,” said the adjudicator.
The adjudicator also found Onion Lake Cree Nation didn’t need to consider Erickson to fill the manager of the fire rescue and peacekeepers program, because the new hire wasn’t doing any of his duties from his regular position. The new hire was also an economic consideration because the position was part-time and at a lesser salary, said the adjudicator.
“It is unfortunate that Mr. Erickson was unhappy by the less than thoughtful way his termination was carried out by his employer, in a way he characterized as a lack of good faith,” said the adjudicator. “However, this does not constitute evidence that contradicts Onion Lake Cree Nation’s assertion that Mr. Erickson was only laid off because of a bona fide discontinuance of a function.”
The adjudicator dismissed Erickson’s complaint.
For more information see:
• Erickson and Onion Lake Cree Nation, Re, 2018 CarswellNat 1228 (Can. Lab. Code Adj.).
