HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-2031.Clements.09-08-28 Decision
Commission de
Crown Employees
Grievance Settlement
règlement des griefs
Board
des employés de la
Couronne
Suite 600 Bureau 600
180 Dundas St. West 180, rue Dundas Ouest
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8 Toronto (Ontario) M5G 1Z8
Tel. (416) 326-1388 Tél. : (416) 326-1388
Fax (416) 326-1396 Téléc. : (416) 326-1396
GSB#2006-2031, 2006-2032
Union# G-85-06-BO, G-88-06-BO
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Amalgamated Transit Union - Local 1587
(Clements)
Union
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The Crown in Right of Ontario
(Greater Toronto Transit Authority - GO Transit)
Employer
BEFOREKen Petryshen Vice-Chair
FOR THE UNIONSimon Blackstone
Green & Chercover
Counsel
FOR THE EMPLOYERSven Poysa
Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
Associate
HEARINGApril 11, October 2, 3, 16, November 27,
2007 and January 14, 2008.
Decision
[1] In October of 2006, the Employer suspended and subsequently discharged Ms. Lee-
Ann Clements, a bus driver. Ms. Clements filed two grievances, one challenging the suspension
and one contesting her discharge. In a bottom line decision, I determined that the Employer did
not have just cause to discharge Ms. Clements and I directed the Employer to reinstate her,
leaving open what penalty, if any, would be substituted for the discharge. In a subsequent
decision, I determined that Ms. Clements did not engage in culpable conduct on September 29,
2006, as alleged by the Employer, and I directed the Employer to fully compensate Ms. Clements
for her losses, with interest, subject to any mitigation. The Employer has complied with these
directions. This decision sets out the reasons for my conclusion that Ms. Clements did not
engage in any culpable conduct on September 29, 2006.
[2] The Employer discharged Ms. Clements because of its view that she made an
offensive comment to passengers while operating a bus on September 29, 2006. Without
providing the complete context for the event, I simply note at this stage that on a trip from
Brampton to York Mills, a male passenger said ?No speak-a English? and Ms. Clements
responded by saying ?You guys speak English, don?t you!? to passengers in her immediate
vicinity. Ms. Clements has never denied that she used these words. The Employer contends that
this statement constitutes an offensive comment and a culminating incident that justified the
termination of her employment. The Union took the position that the comment made by Ms.
Clements was not offensive in the circumstances. In the alternative, Union claimed that the
penalty of discharge was too harsh, even if the conduct of Ms. Clements was inappropriate.
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[3] The Employer called six witnesses. Mr. A. Lumb is the passenger who forwarded a
written complaint about Ms. Clements. The other five witnesses were G. Armitage, Head of
Driver and Safety Training, Mr. J. Womersley, Manager, Bus Operations-West Region, Ms. M.
MacRae, Employee Relations Consultant, Mr. G. Duyn, who signed the discharge letter and at
the time was the Acting Manager, Bus Operations-West Region, and Mr. J. Chilton, Supervisor,
Bus Operations-West Region. In addition to Ms. Clements, the Union called as a witness Ms. P.
Keating, a passenger. There was very little dispute over the facts.
[4] The year 2006 was eventful for Ms. Clements, given that she also had been
discharged by the Employer earlier in the year. In a discharge letter dated March 6, 2006, Mr.
Womersly made reference to her poor driving habits and her confrontational attitude to
passengers. In his opening statement, Employer counsel noted that the conduct that led to her
discharge in March of 2006 included her use of racial slurs to a black passenger. Ms. Clements
grieved her discharge and the parties resolved the matter by entering into an agreement entitled
?Conditions of Continued Employment? (?the Conditions?). The Conditions provided for her
reinstatement and a 10-day suspension. The Conditions also contained the following terms and
conditions for her continuing employment:
6. The employee must dramatically improve her interaction skills with GO
Customers, fellow employees and members of the public. Her success will be
judged through condition #7 below.
7.The employee must not receive any Customer Complaints, which are
assessed as being ?at fault? on her part.
8.The employee must attend, and successfully complete, any GO provided
courses related to improving her driving and customer service skills for
which she is scheduled.
9.The Terms and Conditions of this Agreement will remain in effect until
March 8, 2008.
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10.The Employee agrees that she has read the Agreement in full and
understands the terms and conditions. The Employee further agrees
that she has been provided ample opportunity to review this agreement
and seek advice from her representative(s).
The Employee understands that failure to meet any of the preceding conditions may
result in termination of her employment.
[5] There was some debate between counsel about the significance of the Conditions
and whether the document constitutes a last chance agreement. Given my conclusion that Ms.
Clements did not engage in culpable conduct on September 29, 2006, it is, strictly speaking,
unnecessary to address these issues. I simply note that the Conditions merely provide that a
failure of Ms. Clements to meet any of the conditions mayresultin her termination. It does not
contain a provision which restricts an arbitrator from substituting a lesser penalty if it was found
that she did breach one of the conditions. The Conditions does not have some elements that are
in a standard last chance agreement. However, the 10-day suspension and the conditions of
employment would be given serious consideration and weight when assessing the appropriate
penalty if Ms. Clements had been disciplined for any subsequent breach of the Conditions.
[6] What is clear from the settlement of her discharge in March of 2006 is that the
conduct of Ms. Clements would be assessed based on the Conditions for the following two years.
The most significant features of the Conditions are that Ms. Clements undertook to improve her
interaction with customers and agreed that she must not receive any customer complaints for
which she is assessed at fault or responsible. This leads then to the events which resulted in her
discharge in October of 2006.
[7] Ms. Clements, Ms. Keating and Mr. Lumb testified about the relevant incidents that
occurred on the trip of September 29, 2006. Ms. Clements, of course, was driving the bus. Ms.
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Keating was seated in the first row on the right side, on the aisle. A man was seated beside her
by the window (?Mr. X?). Mr. Lumb was seated by himself on the right side, four rows from the
front. Ms. Keating, Mr. X and Ms. Clements were engaged in some light conversation, with Ms.
Keating doing most of the talking. Ms. Keating noted during this conversation that she had MS.
An elderly man got on the bus and engaged in a discussion with Ms. Clements about where he
was going so she could sell him the appropriate ticket. From their brief discussion, it was
obvious that the man was Italian, with poor English skills. Once the ticket purchase was
completed the man moved down the aisle to find a seat. It was at this point that Mr. X said ?No
speak-a English?, in a normal tone to passengers near the front of the bus. By looking in her
mirror, Ms. Clements saw the Italian man turn to face the front and she assumed he had heard the
comment. She was bothered by the statement made by Mr. X and thought that it was incumbent
on her to say something. It was then that she said ?You guys speak English, don?t you!? No one
responded to her comment, the Italian man found a seat and the incident was over. There were
approximately four or five passengers of South Asian and African dissent sitting near the front of
the bus.
[8] Mr. Lumb is an English language teacher. He was reading a book during the trip.
From what he observed, he thought that the driver and the two passengers in the front had met
previously. Other than the key comments made by Mr. X and Ms. Clements, Mr. Lumb testified
that he did not hear or witness the entire event, so that he could not say what precipitated their
comments. He found the drivers comment to be offensive, because it belittled persons who were
in a minority. Mr. Lumb agreed during cross-examination that there were contexts within which
the words used by the driver would be perfectly acceptable and not offensive.
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[9] Ms. Keating testified that she was offended by what Mr. X said, but not by what the
driver said, although she did add that others may feel differently. It was her belief that the driver
made her comment to diffuse the situation and that she succeeded because no one was upset or
said anything else. Ms. Keating testified that, after the incident with the Italian man, Mr. X made
a sarcastic comment about her MS and Ms. Clements told him that what he said was terrible,
which had the effect of stopping Mr. X from making further comments of a similar nature.
[10] Ms. Clements testified that she ?felt bad? for the Italian man because of the
comment made by Mr. X. Unwilling to agree with Employer counsel?s repeated suggestion to
her during cross-examination that Mr. X?s comment was racist, Ms. Clements continued to
respond that she was bothered by the comment, which she considered inappropriate and
degrading. She indicated that she made her comment because she wanted to defend the Italian
man, to diffuse the situation and to try to ensure that the comment from Mr. X did not escalate
into a serious confrontation. She stated that she did not intend to say anything inappropriate or to
offend any passenger. She indicated that her comment was not a question to passengers, but was
merely a statement intending to bring the incident to a conclusion. She agreed with Employer
counsel that the best response would have been for her to tell Mr. X that his comment was
inappropriate.
[11] Another incident occurred during the trip which was the subject of some evidence.
Since the Employer did not rely on the conduct of Ms. Clements during this incident as a basis
for discipline, the incident warrants a brief reference. While travelling on Highway #401, a car
cut in front of the bus, nearly causing an accident. Mr. Lumb claims that when this occurred,
Ms. Clements said ?Fuck?. He believed that the use of such language by the driver was not
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appropriate. During his cross-examination, Mr. Lumb insisted that it was not Ms. Keating who
used the offensive word. Ms. Clements testified that she did not say ?Fuck?, and Ms. Keating
indicated that she was the one who said the word.
[12] Ms. Keating insisted that the incident with the car be reported to the Police. Ms.
Clements phoned Mr. Chilton, explained what happened and gave him the plate number and
description of the car. Ms. Clements and Ms. Keating exchanged names and telephone numbers
at the request of Ms. Clements. She made this request in case there was a complaint about the
car incident.
[13] The text of Mr. Lumb?s written complaint to the Employer against Ms. Clements is
as follows:
I was a visitor to the City of Toronto seeking work on the week of September 25. This is
a letter of complaint concerning what I witnessed on the GO Bus route servicing from
Bramalea Centre Station to York Mills Subway Station between the hours of 12:15 pm to
1:15 pm, on Friday September 29.
The GO Bus driver, a woman in her mid-fifties, was speaking with two other persons of
similar age, a woman and a man. Both of these persons sat in the immediate front seat on
the right side of the aisle, in order to converse with the bus driver. By their friendliness, I
took it that they knew one another very well from having taken this bus route together for
many years. The conversation they were having seemed harmless at first until there was
a mention of the other passengers riding on the bus. In reference to the other passengers
the man said in an undertone ?No speak-a English?. This just encouraged the bus driver
to say aloud to the other passengers ?You guys speak English, don?t you?? to which no
passengers gave any reply. I think the other passengers, like myself, were deeply
offended and not amused. I thought the bus driver could have demonstrated better
judgement by not participating with the man?s degrading racist comment.
The second event that occurred on this GO Bus route was en-route to Yorkdale Shopping
Centre via Highway 401. There was a moment on the highway where a white Mercedes
Benz, in the fast lane, almost came into the left side of the GO Bus. The driver of the
Mercedes Benz, a female in her mid-twenties was very careless for not shoulder-checking
before changing into the right lane. The GO Bus driver, however, used foul language
toward the driver of the Mercedes Benz.Had there been any young children aboard this
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GO Bus, their ears would have been assaulted by such coarse language used by a member
of the public service.
I was not the only witness to these events as there were a dozen other passengers also
commuting to Metro Toronto that afternoon. I hope in future, that this GO Bus driver,
servicing the route between Bramalea Centre Station and York Mills Subway Station,
will conduct herself in a manner more fit for the public eye.
[14] The Employer followed its normal practice in addressing Mr. Lumb?s complaint,
now referred to as a CIT. The CIT is sent to the shift supervisor to conduct the initial
investigation by interviewing the driver. Mr. Chilton interviewed Ms. Clements at 5:00 a.m. on
October 3, 2006, just prior to her shift. Based on what Ms. Clements told him, Mr. Chilton made
the determination that the driver was not responsible. He sent an email setting out his conclusion
to a number of individuals, including his manager, Mr. Womersley. The relevant text of this
email reads as follows:
Driver Clements 7605, Please Close CIT, Driver Not Responsible;
Please note the driver insists that this statement was taken out of context, that she meant
that everyone was able to communicate without any problem. Said she never meant to
demean anyone or give any weight to the comment from the other passenger. She said
that during this trip she avoided a collision with a white Mercedes that cut off the bus as
stated, but denies that she used any bad language. She noted the name of a witness of this
incident on this trip and the license number of the vehicle mentioned. Driver was
counseled to avoid conversation during operation of transit vehicles, and to use tact and
discretion when dealing with customers and difficult traffic situations.
[15] Mr. Womersley changed the CIT from ?Driver Not Responsible? to ?Driver is
Responsible.? He deduced from Mr. Chilton?s report that Ms. Clements did not deny making the
statement and he felt that it was a derogatory comment. Ms. MacRae spoke to Mr. Chilton about
his failure to conduct a thorough investigation on the CIT. In his testimony, Mr. Chilton
indicated that he did not have a problem with the change to the CIT. He explained that Ms.
Clements became increasingly upset during their five minute discussion on October 3, 2006, and
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he told her to calm down. With an interest in getting her on the road, Mr. Chilton told her not to
worry and that everything would be okay. Mr. Chilton felt that he had made a personal
commitment to Ms. Clements. Mr. Chilton was not aware of her disciplinary record. He did not
ask her for the context of her statement, nor did he contact Ms. Keating.
[16] Mr. Chilton was obviously in a difficult position in this proceeding. His decision
on the CIT was overturned by his manager and, in essence, he was called as a witness to explain
why his initial determination was not correct. As one would expect having regard to my
conclusion about the conduct of Ms. Clements, I do not believe that Mr. Chilton was wrong in
deciding that Ms. Clements was not responsible. I found it at least interesting that an
experienced Supervisor who had sixteen years driving experience listened to her version of the
event and concluded the she was not responsible. From his testimony, I was not convinced that
Mr. Chilton believed that he acted inappropriately or incorrectly when he initially decided that
Ms. Clements was not responsible.
[17] In advising certain individuals, including Ms. MacRae, that he had changed the
CIT, Mr. Womersley referred to the Conditions and noted that termination was a possibility. On
the following day, he asked Ms. MacRae if there was enough to terminate Ms. Clements. In her
response, Ms. MacRae indicated her impression was that termination is the appropriate action, as
long as there was a proper investigation and the ?at fault? can be substantiated. Mr. Womersley
turned the investigation over to others as he was going on vacation. He indicated that he was not
involved in the decision to discharge Ms. Clements and that he did not give any advice to anyone
about what disciplinary sanction should be taken against Ms. Clements.
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[18] A meeting with Ms. Clements and Mr. S. Rogers, the Union representative, took
place on October 13, 2006. Mr. Duyn, Ms. MacRae and Mr. Chilton were present for the
Employer. Ms.Clements again acknowledged that she did make the statement ?You guys speak
English, don?t you!? When asked to explain what occurred, Ms. Clements simply noted that they
and the complaining passenger would not find the statement offensive if they had heard the
entire conversation. She also indicated that she could not recall the entire conversation. The car
incident was also discussed. Reference was made at the meeting to the contact information
provided by Ms. Clements. Ms. Clements was advised at the conclusion of the meeting that she
was suspended and the Employer indicated that it would contact Ms. Keating before making its
final decision.
[19] On October 13, 2006, prior to the meeting, Ms. Clements called Ms. Keating and
asked if she had been contacted by an Employer representative to solicit her version of what took
place during the trip in question. Ms. Keating told her that no such contact had been made. Ms.
Clements testified that the tone and attitude of the management representatives at the meeting
and the Employer?s failure to contact Ms. Keating convinced her that she would be found guilty
no matter what she said. She agreed that she should have mentioned the Italian man at the
meeting, but was convinced that such a reference would not have made a difference.
[20] Mr. Duyn spoke to Ms. Keating by phone on October 13, 2006. He asked her first
about the car incident and then asked her whether she remembered the driver saying ?You guys
speak English, don?t you?? Ms. Keating referred to herself as an easy going Newfoundlander
and said that she was not offended by the statement. Mr. Duyn did not ask Ms. Keating about
the context for comment made by Ms. Clements.
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[21] Mr. Duyn reported the results of his interview with Ms. Keating to Ms. MacRae.
Mr. Duyn then decided to discharge Ms. Clements, with Ms. MacRae?s concurrence. Although
the Conditions provided that a failure to meet any of the conditions mayresult in discharge, Mr.
Duyn believed that the only option he had under the Conditions was to discharge Ms. Clements.
When it was put to him in cross-examination that he could have imposed a penalty less than
discharge, he disagreed and referenced the Conditions. When Employer counsel in re-direct
pointed out the use of the word ?may? in the Conditions and asked about the option to impose a
lesser penalty, Mr. Duyn reiterated that he had no alternative but to discharge Ms. Clements
under the Conditions. It is clear from the Conditions that the Employer could have elected to
impose a penalty other than discharge in the instant case.
[22] The letter of termination signed by Mr. G. Dyun is dated October 16, 2006. The
text of the letter reads as follows:
The purpose of this letter is to confirm our conversation of Friday, October 13, 2006. In
attendance were Mr. J. Chilton, Supervisor, Bus Operations, Ms. M. MacRae, Employee
Relations Consultant, and Mr. S. Rodgers, Representative, ATU Local 1587.
In the meeting we discussed customer complaint #2006007074, in which you engaged in
an inappropriate conversation with two other passengers on the bus. You admitted to
making a comment toward passengers on the bus that was offensive.
On Monday March 6, 2006, your employment was terminated for your continued failure
to provide courteous customer service and the resultant excessive number of Customer
Complaints.
On March 8, 2006, you accepted a Conditions of Continued Employment contract
between yourself, GO Transit, and the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1587.
Two of these conditions are listed below:
?The employee must dramatically improve her interaction skills with GO
customers, fellow employees and members of the public. Her success will
be judged through condition #7 below.?
?The employee must not receive any Customer Complaints, which are
assessed at being ?at fault? on her part.?
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As a result, you have breached your Conditions of Continued Employment.
Therefore, based on the latest incidents and your overall performance record, your
employment is terminated effective immediately for just cause.
[23] Mr. Armitage testified that drivers are trained not to escalate or get involved with
the problem when confronted with conflict situations. He indicated that the driver should bring
the event to a conclusion by simply telling the offender that the conduct is inappropriate and not
to do it again. He claimed that Ms. Clements did not do this in this instance, but instead made a
comment that was offensive to a person for whom English was a second language. Mr. Armitage
agreed in cross-examination that there were no magic words to use with difficult passengers. He
also agreed that the training drivers receive does not specifically address what a driver is to do
when a passenger makes a racist comment. Ms. Clements confirmed in her testimony that she
had not received such training.
[24] Mr. Womersley and Mr. Duyn testified about what was wrong with the statement
made by Ms. Clements. Mr. Womersley indicated that her comment was derogatory given the
Employer?s diverse customer base where it is often the case that English is not the first language.
Mr. Duyn stated that her statement was derogatory because she questioned the language ability
of customers. Ms. MacRae indicated that the comment was inappropriate but did not explain
why she believed it was inappropriate. These three witnesses were very clear on one issue.
They were emphatic that the statement made by Ms. Clements was offensive irrespective of the
context within which it was made.
[25] In his very through submissions reviewing the facts and the law, Employer counsel
argued that the Employer was correct when it concluded that the statement made by
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Ms. Clements was offensive, contravened the Conditions and that the breach of the Conditions
warranted the penalty of discharge. In addition to the policy documents entitled Policy and
Guidelines On Racism and Racial Discrimination and Policy on Discrimination and Language
prepared by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Employer counsel relied on the following
decisions:Re United Parcel Service Canada Ltd. and Teamsters Union, Local 938 (1994), 37
C.L.A.S. 299 (Mitchnick); Re Toronto Transit Commission and A.T.U., Local 113 (1998), 10
C.L.A.S. 113 (Davis); Re Toronto Transit Commission and Amalgamated Transit Union, Local
113(1980), 28 L.A.C. (2d) 184 (McLaren); Re Brantford (City) Public Utilities Commission and
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A.T.U., Div. 685 (1991), 22 L.A.C. (4) 326 (Verity); Re Trent-Wager Inc. and A.T.U., Local
1624 (1997), 50 C.L.A.S. 438 (Howe); Re Kemess Mines Ltd. and I.U.O.E., Loc. 115 (2006), 152
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L.A.C. (4) 232 (Hope); Re Canada Safeway Ltd. and U.F.C.W., Loc. 832 (2006), 88 C.L.A.S.
12 (Graham); Ford v. Quebec (Attorney General), [1988] 2 S.C.R. 712; Re Loomis Courier
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Service and C.A.W. Canada, Locs. 4215, 4215B & 4278 (1999), 79 L.A.C. (4) 422 (Pelton); Re
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Slocan Group ? Mackenzie Operations and P.P.W.C., Loc. 18 (2001), 97 L.A.C. (4) 387
(Taylor); Re Sudbury Regional Hospital and C.U.P.E. (2004), 77 C.L.A.S. 152 (Roberts); and,
Re Toronto east General Hospital Inc. and Service Employees International Union (1975), 9
L.A.C. (2d) 311(Beatty).
[26] In arguing that the statement by Ms. Clements was not offensive when viewed in its
context, Union counsel relied on the following decisions: Angeconeb v. 517152 Ontario Ltd. and
Ruby Cullen (1993), 19 C.H.R.R. D/51 (Ont. Bd.Inq) 452; Re Kingston General Hospital and
O.P.S.E.U., Local 442 (1992), 27 C.L.A.S. 543 (Stewart); Re Continuous Colour Coat Ltd. and
U.S.W.A., Local 7685 (1989), 15 C.L.A.S. 43 (Marcotte); and, Re Steel Equipment Co. Ltd. and
U.S.W.A., Local 3257 (1964), 14 L.A.C. 356 (Reville).
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[27] I reviewed and considered the material and decisions referred to me by counsel.
Although the decisions contain useful general principles, I did not find them to be particularly
helpful in dealing with the unique circumstances of the instant case.
[28] I had no difficulty accepting a number of propositions advanced by the Employer.
Customer service is an important and even critical component of the Employer?s transportation
business. Drivers are obliged to be respectful to customers and a higher standard of conduct is
required when employees interface with the public, particularly when the employer is publicly
owned and operated. Although language is not identified in human rights legislation as a
prohibited ground of discrimination, there may very well be a link between language and
prohibited grounds of discrimination, such as ancestry, ethnic origin, place of origin and race.
Any conduct by drivers that constitutes discrimination of any sort, which could include a
reference to language, is completely unacceptable and such conduct would warrant a disciplinary
response, perhaps a severe one.
[29] In my view, it is difficult to assess the nature of the statement made by Ms.
Clements without placing it in the context within which it was made. Ms. Clements provided the
context for her statement and her testimony was corroborated to a significant degree by Ms.
Keating. Mr. Lumb was not able to provide us with much of a contextual framework for
analyzing the statement. I was quite prepared to accept Ms. Clements?s explanation and
motivation for making the statement.
[30] After servicing an elderly Italian man who did not speak English very well, Mr. X
said ?No speak-a English? as the Italian man was walking down the aisle, within hearing range.
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There is no dispute that it was incumbent on Ms. Clements to say something in the face of a
clearly inappropriate remark. She recognized that Mr. X?s comment was inappropriate and
degrading. She could have told Mr. X that his comment was inappropriate and left it at that. But
she also felt sorry for the Italian man, who she believed heard the comment from Mr. X, and she
wanted to send the message that everyone, including the Italian man, could communicate
adequately. This is what she indicated to Mr. Chilton when the CIT was first brought to her
attention. Her statement was intended to be inclusive, rather than exclusive. It was made to end
any further comment from Mr. X and to address any feeling of inadequacy about language that
his comment may have generated. There is no doubt that she could have used different words to
express her intention. However, I had no doubt that Ms. Clements did not intend to demean the
passengers on the bus or to give any credibility to the comment of Mr. X. Her comment was not
intended to be critical of anyone?s ability to speak English and there is no discernable link
between what she said and an attempt to discriminate on the basis of any prohibited ground. In
my view, a reasonable passenger on that trip, aware of the entire context, would recognize her
statement for what it was, namely an effort on her part to address the suggestion by Mr. X that
the Italian man could not speak English by indicating that passengers could communicate
adequately in English. Taken objectively and certainly within the context of what was
happening at the time, I was satisfied that the statement made by Ms. Clements was not offensive
and that her conduct in these circumstances was not culpable.
[31] In considering the appropriate remedy in this case, I did consider the relevance of
Ms. Clements?s decision not to disclose the complete context of her comment at the meeting held
on October 13, 2006. Such a failure in certain circumstances could affect the remedial response.
There is no doubt that Ms. Clements should have disclosed the entire context of her comment at
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the meeting. She believed, and in my view with some justification, that the end result would not
be affected by anything she had to say. Mr. Womersley was inquiring about the possibility of a
discharge without having any idea of the context of her statement. After the meeting on October
13, 2006, Mr. Duyn could have asked Ms. Keating about the context of the statement, but clearly
was only interested in confirming that the statement was made. The management individuals
involved in this matter, particularly Mr. Duyn and Ms. MacRae, were quite insistent that Ms.
Clements made a culpable comment irrespective of the context. One can only conclude that the
failure on the part of Ms. Clements to disclose the entire context of her statement at the meeting
on October 13, 2006, would not have altered the result. I concluded therefore that her failure in
this regard should not affect the remedy that would normally flow from the Employer?s breach of
the Collective Agreement.
[32] It was for the forgoing reasons that I concluded that Ms. Clements did not breach
the Conditions and did not engage in culpable conduct on September 29, 2006, and why I
allowed her grievance and directed the Employer to reinstate her and fully compensate her for
her losses.
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Dated at Toronto this 28 day of August 2009.
Ken Petryshen, Vice-Chair