HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-6767.Tovilo.22-09-22 Decision
Crown Employees
Grievance Settlement
Board
Suite 600
180 Dundas St. west
Toronto, Ontario M5G 1Z8
Tel. (416) 326-1388
Commission de
règlement des griefs
des employés de la
Couronne
Bureau 600
180, rue Dundas Ouest
Toronto (Ontario) M5G 1Z8
Tél. : (416) 326-1388
GSB#2022-6767
UNION#2022-5112-0288
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
(Tovilo) Union
- and -
The Crown in Right of Ontario
(Ministry of the Solicitor General) Employer
BEFORE Brian P. Sheehan Arbitrator
FOR THE UNION Gregg Gray
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
Grievance Officer
FOR THE EMPLOYER Emily Lewis
Treasury Board Secretariat
Employee Relations Advisor
HEARING September 15, 2022
-2-
Decision
[1] The Employer and the Union at the Toronto South Detention Centre agreed to
participate in the Expedited Mediation/Arbitration process in accordance with the
negotiated Protocol. It is not necessary to reproduce the entire Protocol. Suffice
to say, that the parties have agreed to a True Mediation/Arbitration process
wherein each party provides the Arbitrator with their submissions setting out the
facts and the authorities they respectively will rely upon. This decision is issued
in accordance with the Protocol and with Article 22.16 of the collective
agreement, and, as such, it is without prejudice or precedent.
[2] The grievor is employed as a Correctional Officer 2 at the Toronto South
Detention Centre. He has been employed with the Employer since October 2017.
[3] In terms of his disciplinary record, he had a Letter of Reprimand on file.
[4] The grievor received a one-day suspension on June 24, 2022. The disciplinary
letter alleged that the grievor engaged in unprofessional conduct by: (1) dropping
an inmate’s meal on the floor; and (2) failing to report that other officers have
dropped inmates’ meals on the floor.
[5] With respect to the first allegation, on the morning of May 30, 2022, the grievor
was distributing breakfast meals (the contents of which were contained in a bag)
to inmates in a segregated unit. It was the first time the grievor had worked on
that unit. It was asserted in an Appendix attached to the grievance that the
breakfast meal was placed on the cell floor, and that the inmate had been
previously noncompliant by holding onto the hatch of the door. During the
-3-
Mediation/Arbitration proceeding, the grievor’s version of the incident was that he
reached down through the hatch of the door and gently released the bag close to
the floor of the cell.
[6] A review of the video of the incident affirms that the grievor opened the hatch and
casually dropped the breakfast bag. It was neither released gently, nor was it
released in close proximity to the cell's floor. Given that determination, the
Employer’s decision to discipline the grievor was warranted.
[7] It has been concluded, however, that the penalty should be reduced to a Letter of
Reprimand. A key reason for the reduction of the penalty is that the Employer
completely rescinded the second allegation that formed the basis of the one-day
suspension. Additionally, there was no apparent malice associated with the
grievor’s behaviour.
[8] In conclusion, the one-day suspension issued to the grievor is reduced to a Letter
of Reprimand, and the Employer shall make the grievor whole by compensating
him eight hours' pay.
Dated at Toronto, Ontario this 22nd day of September 2022.
“Brian P. Sheehan”
Brian P. Sheehan, Arbitrator