FPSLREB Decisions

Termination (disciplinary) - Absence without leave - Customs inspector - Failure to cooperate in employer's investigation - Credibility - Mitigating factors considered - Lack of rehabilitative potential - grievor often worked shifts alone at the Nanaimo office - a member of the public complained that during the evening of January 26, 1995, he was unable to contact the office to obtain the requisite customs clearance - the grievor was scheduled to be on duty alone that evening - when confronted by his supervisor, grievor claimed that he had been on the premises at all times and alleged that there must have been a problem with the phone system - following an investigation, employer concluded that grievor had been absent without permission during the relevant time to attend a militia meeting - employer terminated the grievor's employment for being absent without leave and for actively attempting to mislead the employer in its investigation by, among other things, altering militia attendance records - evidence failed to substantiate grievor's claim that the phones had not been working properly on the night in question - adjudicator concluded that employer's decision to terminate the grievor's employment was reasonable under the circumstances and he would not interfere with it notwithstanding the existence of various mitigating circumstances including 12 years of fully satisfactory service - adjudicator found that grievor's dishonesty in the investigative process established a lack of rehabilitative potential. Grievance denied. Cases cited: Green v. Canada (Treasury Board) (1998), 134 F.T.R. 108; College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario v. Gillen (1993), 13 O.R. (3d) 385.