HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-0784.Morke et al.88-09-01SETTLEMENT RkGLEMENT
DES GRIEFS
IN THE MATTER OF.AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
Between:
OPSEU (D. Morke et al)
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and
Grievers
The Crown in Right of Ontario
(Ministry of Community and Social Services)
Employer
Before: P.J. Brunner Vice Chairman
I.J. Thomson Member
A.G. Stapleton Member.
For the Crievors:., B. Herlich
Counse 1
Cavalluzzo, Hayes & Lennon
Barristers and Solicitors
For the Employer: c. Slater
Solicitor
Legal Services Branch
Ministry of Community and Social Services
Hearings : April 23, 1987
January 25, 1988
January 26, 1988
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DECISION
On July, 9, 1985, Daniel Morke, who was then classified as a
Residential Counsellor II at the Huronia Regional Centre
(hereinafter referred to as the Centre), an institution for the
developmentally handicapped and mentally retarded in the City of
Orillia, was suspended for three days for allegedly abusing one
R. W., a blind, deaf and retarded resident. On June 18, 1986,
after an extended leave of absence due to illness, he was demoted
to the classification of Building Cleaner 2.
Morke now grieves both decisions of the Employer, alleging
that the former represents the imposition of discipline without
just cause and the latter a violation 'of Article 5.6 of the
collective agreement between the Ontario Publics Service Employees
Union (hereinafter referred .to as the Union) and ~the Crown
(Ministry of Community and Social Services) in Right of Ontario
as represented by Management Board of Cabinet (hereinafter
referred to as the Employer).
.,~Th~e.. reasons for Morke's suspension are set out in a letter
dated ,July 9, 1985 from the Centre's Administrator which is
reproduced in full below:
"Further to my letter to you of June 14, 19S5 and
the meeting, of July 4, 1985 in which you were
informed of the results .of the investigation into
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allegations that YO" acted inappropriately in relation to your responsibilities as a Residential
Counsellor, the following are my findings..
I find that you did abuse a client in the D-l
Block Program on Thursday, June 13, 1985 at approximately 9:30 a.m. Your inappropriate be-
haviour towards the client resulted in damage to
both his physical and psychological wellbeing.
This behaviour on your part is unacceptable.
Accordingly I am implementing a penalty of a
suspension of 3 days without pay. All other salary
and benefits, since the date of your suspension,
will be reinstated. Also, upon your return to work
I will be referring you for a psychiatric and/or
psychological assessment to review your, suit-
ability to carry out your duties as a Residential
Counsellor. When you return. to work you will be
assigned to an- area where you do not work alone
and where your performance can be closely super-
vised.
Would you please report for duty to the office of
the Director of Residential Life effective Thurs-
day, July 11, 1985."
Morke returned to work on July 11, 1985. On July 25, 1985,
he was granted sick leave by reason of reactive anxiety and
depression resulting from the incident of June 13, 1985. On
October 8, 1985 he w,as directed by the Employer to undergo a
medical examination pursuant to then Article 51.9 of the
collective agreement. Morke refused on the ground that he was
consulting a physicians of his own choosing and accordingly did
not want to submit to. a further medical examination at the
instance of the Employer.
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On February 10;' 1986 he advised the Personnel Department at
the Centre that he was prepared to return to work immediately and
forwarded a certificate from a Dr. D : Glick, a general
practitioner specializing in hypnosis he had consulted periodic-
ally for counsellinq and therapy, who now certified that !4orke
was willing to resume his duties as a Residential Counsellor II
although he recommended that night shift duties might be more '_
appropriate for the time being.
On February 13, 1986, the Acting Director of Residential
Services at the Centre wrote the following letter to Morke:
"I am in receipt of your letter of February 10,
1986 to Ms. J. Fraser, in which you have indicated
that you are prepared to return to work immediate-
ly, from an extended sick .leave.
. .
Because of the nature and extent of your medical
history over the past number of months, .I must
request that you provide. me with an up to date
medical report before returning to your place of
work. This report should contain -
&i 1 A detailed statement concerning the nature
and extent of your present disability, if
any;
(ii) An opinion concerning any limi~tations upon
your ability to perform the duties required
of a Residential Counsellor in an institu-
tional setting.' Relevant job descriptions
and detailed position requirements will be
provided for consideration by the medical
examiner.
(iii) An opinion indicating a prognosis for future
attendance in the event your condition
remains unstabilized and future treatment is
required.
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In order to assist in obtaining this information
an independent medical examination through Employ-
ee Health Services will be arranged for you in
accordance with Article 51.9 of th@ Collective
Agreement. Expenses involved in respect of this
medical examination will be paid by the Ministry.
Any other treatment expenses will be your own
responsibility.
We anticipate your full cooperation in this
matter. You will be advised of the date and time
of this appointment. Transportation can be ar-
ranged for you, if you require it."
On March 14, 1986 he was advised that an appointment had
been made for him with Dr. Hugh Chambers, the Medical Director of
Health Services of the Ministry of,Government Services. and one
-Dr. Sheldon H. Geller an "independent consultant".
In the event, neither Dr. Hugh Chambers nor any oth&r~.Gerson
licenced to .practice medicine either in Ontario or in any other
jurisdiction saw fit .to examine Morke on the direction of the
Employer. Instead, Dr. Chambers simply referred Morke to Dr.
Sheldon H.' &-ller, an industrial, organizational and counselling
psychologist for a psychological assessment.
'On April 24, 1986, Morke underwent a diagnostic interview at
the instance of Dr. Geller. In addition, five psychological tests
were administered for the. purposes of determining his employ-
ability and level of psychological functioning. On April 29,
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1986, Dr. Geller submitted a report to Dr. Huqh Chambers
outlining his findings and conclusions. It is. not necessary to
set out in great detail the.contents of Dr. Geller's report. We
make reference however to ~the following findings as well as that
portion .of the report which is found under the heading of
"Summary of Findings and Recommendations'!.
"Psychometric tests revealed a number of interes-
ting findings. The 16 Personality Factor Test', an
inventory which measures varying degrees of
normality, revealed Mr. Morke to have a below-
average tolerance for stress and to have a
tendency to be suspicious~ and intolerant of other
people. Individuals of this type of profile are
often found to have difficulty coping with
interpersonally trying or difficult situations.
Because of Mr. Morke's tendency to be evasive'and
defensive, the Rorschachprojective technique was
utilized. -The results of this test revealed Mr.
Morke to have repressed aggression, with the
potential for acting;out. AS well, there were
suggestions of difficulties with 'impulse control
and self control. His responses revealed that at
the present~time, Mr. Morke's defenc,es are intact,
but given his low tolerance for stress, he has an
elevated potential for behaving in an inappropri-
ate and potentially harmful manner. Finally, this
part of the assessment revealed Mr. Morke's
thinking to be rather concrete in nature and
consequently, his judgment may be inappropriate in
situations which are ~deemed to be ambiguous or
unstructured. Consequently, when under stress or
when involved in an emergency situation, Mr. Morke
may demonstrate responses that are inappropriate
through the use of excessive force or- poor
judgment.
Summary of Findings and Recommendations
"Mr. Dan Morke is thirty-two years old and was
referred because of concerns pertaining to his
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ability to function effectively as a Residential
Counsellor working' with retarded individuals.
Concern pertaining to Mr. Norke was expressed by
his employer in light of Mr. Morke's alleged abuse
of a blind and retarded resident, and in view of
numerous incidents in which Mr. Morke has behaved
inappropriately or has had difficulty in maintain-
ing good interpersonal relationships with co-
workers.
The results of this assessment revealed Mr. Morke
to be free of any clearly indisputable symptoms of
psychopathology. In this regard, Mr. Morke is not
flor~idly psychotic, is not hallucinating, does not
have a major thought disorder, and is not
suffering from a major mood disturbance. However,
the results of this assessment do reveal some very
significant findings which lead me to question Mr.
Morke's ability to perform in a consistent and
acceptable manner in the position of Residential
Counsellor.
The job classification for a Residential Counsel-
lor requires, among other duties, that Mr. Morke "manage incidents of disturbed behaviour", "res-
pond to, report and record all client accidents
and injuries", and "assist during emergency
situations" that might be involved when providing
care for developmentally handicapped clients, and
those of all levels of mental retardation ranging
from profound to mild. The results ~of this
assessment revealed Mr. Morke to have a lowered
tolerance for stress, combined with a propensity
for allowing his repressed aggression to surface
when required to deal with situations which he
finds stressful, such as would be involved in an
emergency. It is for these reasons that I felt Mr.
Morke should not work as a Residential Counsellor,
and if possible be transfer-red to another position
which would not require him to be responsible for
the care of the developmentally handicapped or
mentally retarded."
On May 2, 1986, Dr. Chambers addressed a memorandum to Miss
J. Fraser, a Human Resources Representative at the Centre and put
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his own views in the following terse sentence.
"Followinq.review of Dr. Geller's report and the
information provided by your Ministry, I am in
agreement with the above statement."
Subsequently, Dr. Geller consulted with Dr. D. Glick on the
telephone and on May 6, 1986, forwarded the following letter to
Dr. Hugh Chambers in which he set out Dr. Glick's opinion.
"Further to my report on the above-named, dated
April 29, 1986, I spoke today with Dr. Daniel
Glick who advised me that he is primarily involved
in hypnosis. Dr.
Glick last saw Mr. Morke in
February of 1986 and it is~ his. opinion that Mr.
,,Morke is not suffering ,from any major psycho-
pathology, such as a multiple personality, amnesia
or schizophrenia. Dr.
Glick went on to state that
Mr. Morke appears to be concerned about the care
he provides to his residents, and may have
developed.enemies among his co-workers because of
his perfectionistic orientation-~ Dr. Click stated
that he would have no reservations about having
Mr. Morke return to his job 'as a Residential
Counsellor."
This was followed on May 29, 1986 by a furthermemorandum
which we reproduce in full.
"Please refer to my memorandum of May 2, 1986
concerning the above named employee of your
.Ministry. With that memorandum was enclosed a copy
of Dr. Geller's report *concerning this employee.
Subsequently Dr. Geller was in contact with Dr.
Daniel Glick who had been treating Mr. Morke.. I
have enclosed for your information a subsequent
report which Dr.
Geller submitted following his
conversation with Dr. Glick.
You will note that Dr. Glick takes a different
point of view than Dr. Geller. However, it must be
remembered that Mr. Morke was sent to Dr. Geller
for a specific purpose, that is, to determine his
fitness to work with residents while Dr. Glick's
contact with Mr. Morke was for purposes of treatment.
In a conversation with Dr. Geller he indicated
that he still stands behind his original opinion
that Mr. Morke should not work as a Residential
Counsellor etc.
Based on the evidence provided by your Ministry
and the fact that Dr. Glick probably did not have
access to most of it and on Dr. Geller's report, I
am still in. agreement with Dr. Geller's opinion.
If I can be of any further assistance in this
matter, please do not hesitate to contact me.
It was these two memoranda from Dr. Hugh Chambers which on
June 18, 1986 resulted in Morke being assigned "for reasons of
health" to the classification of Building 'Cleaner, purportedly
pursuant to Article 5.6 of the collective agreement.
It is'now appropriate to ma.ke mention of certain additional
medical evidence.
On July 25, 1985 Morke consulted Dr. D.~.Glick. He diagnosed
Morke as suffering from reactive anxiety and depression flowing
from the accusation levelled against him by the Centre that he
Chad abused R. W. On February 7, 1986, Dr. Glick was of the view
that Morke was able to return to work but nevertheless referred
him to a psychiatrist, Dr. H. Rochman for assessment and he on
April 9, 1986 reported that Morke was not psychotic nor suffering
from any organic dysfunction.
At the hearings, Counsel for Morke submitted a very
comprehensive psychiatric report which was prepared by Dr. ti. H.
Ben-Aron, the Chief Psychiatrist, Forensic and Patient Unit at
the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry as well as an assistant
professor of the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine at
the University of Toronto and 'the results of a series of
psychological and psychomectric tests conducted by members of the
department of psychology at The Clarke Institute.
Dr. Ben-Aron's findings and conclusions may be summarized as
follows.
1. Morke suffers from a subtle organic impair-
ment that results from a. head injury that he
sustained when four years of age.
2. Although of average intellectual ability, he
has an impaired cognitive performance pattern
with deficits consistent with an organic dys-
function. In this respect, he tends to be
rigid, concrete and inflexible at times in
his thinking and, as a ~. result of 'these
difficulties, may be an individual who is
prone to having problems in communication and
social interaction.
3. As a result of his cognitive impairment and
somewhat truncated- social and interpersonal
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relationship skills, he is an individual who
can be seen as having difficulties in getting
along with people around him. He is the type
of individual who focuses his attention on the tasks at hand and thereafter persists in
a dogged fashion to achieve success at that
task.
4. Because of his lack of flexibility he is also
the kind of person who might have trouble
coping with ambiguous situations and further-
more, may be an individual who is not fully
aware of the effect of his rigidity on
others. This promotes friction between his co-workers and himself, particularly at those
times when there sexists a difference in
opinion as to the best .way of dealing with
issues and problems.
5. He does not suffer from any of the conven-
tional major mental illnesses or personality
disorders. However, he has underlying feel-
ings of depression and some feelings of
insecurity based on a. lowered self-esteem
stemming from a self-concept that includes
his having "limitations".
6. His psychological tests suggest that he is an
individual who tends to avoid acknowledging
and expressing anger and to that degree
individuals with similar scores do show a vulnerability to episodic outbursts of aq-
gression. Furthermore, the tests indicated
that ambiguous situations would be difficult
and stressful for him. He does not suffer
from any psychological disinhibltinq states.
7. He does not suffer from any disturbance which
would impair his .ability to complete the
tasks of his job as residential counsellor
aside from those demands placed upon him in
social interactions with colleagues, whom he
perceives as being cavalier, or uncommitteed
or sloppy or negligent in the performance of
their duties in looking after residents.
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a.
His high standards and his inflexibility and
rigidity of thinking would result in friction
and at times in conflict between himself and
colleagues whom he viewed as not doing the
best. To that degree he is vulnerable to
these kinds of sentiments and coming into
conflict with his colleagues.
For the above reasons Dr. Ben-Aron recommended that Morke ~..~.
should work in a situation where his strong will and .persistence
would be an asset and where the job requirements are clear and
unambiguous and that he seriously consider resigning from his
work as a Residential Counsellor at that facility by reason of
his difficulty in getting along with some of his co-workers at
the Centre.
On January 13, 1988 Dr. Ben-Aron submitted a further report
ins which he confirmed Morke's suitability for continued emplby-
ment at the Centre as a counsellor and emphasized that from a
psychiatric perspective there was no concern that he would
represent potential risk to the residents. He re-iterated that
Morke does not suffer from any psychological impairment that
would interfere with his ability to perform the. job. He also
reported that over the course of some five sessions with Morke,
the latter made some progress in understanding show at times he
comes to have problems with his co-workers. However, Dr. Ben-Aron
opined that there was no question that he continues to have very
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strong feelings about his work ethic and how this is incongruent
with that of many of the individuals around him at the Centre.
We now turn to the events of June 13, 1985.
At approximately 9:30 a.m. R.W., who is a blind, deaf and
profoundly mentally handicapped resident, was brought into the
Environmental Program room at the Centre. Present at this time
and working with a number of other residents was Morke and one
Chris Brooks, then a summer student studying Developmental
Services Work at Georgian Colleqe'of Applied Arts and Technology.
As R.W. is a self-abusive patient he wears a helmet and mitts at
all times to reduce~the risk of self-harm. He does not verbally
communicate but can vocalize noises.
While there,is some doubt as to whether R.W. was in a "good" .:~
or "bad" mood that. morning,? it is clear that he was a most -_
difficult resident who needed to be treated with the utmost care
and sensitivity at all times.
R.W. was placed into a rocking chair where he remained for
approximately five minutes. Brooks testified that at one point
Morke threw a soft leather pillow and then two or three stuffed
toys at R.W. which bounced off his helmet, a process which he
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repeated on two occasions. As a result, R.W. became agitated,
flailed his arms, screamed and used his helmet to scrape his left
shoulder thus aggravating a previous injury.
Cheryl McCaque, another summer student who was taking
residents in and out of the room, observed Morke throwing the
pillow at R.W. She corroborated Brooks' evidence as to the
agitation and screaming as well as scraping by R.W. However, her
observations in this respect were only momentary and she took no
preventive action. . .
Morke gave evidence that her placed R.W. into the rocking
chair because he was yelling and disturbing other residents. He
admitted tossing a small pillow described at times as a bean bag
and at others; as a ball at R.W. which'first fell in his lap and
then rolled to the floor. His intention was to distract R.W. so
that he would refrain from disturbing the others. Morke also
stated that he "tapped" R.W.'s helmet twice lightly with a yellow
drumstick that he was using in his work with another patient. A
few minutes later he took R.W. out -of the room to the outside
grounds where he remained with him for about ten minutes and then
returned. However, Brooks testified that he left with another
r~esident while she attempted to calm .R.W. down .and brought the
matter to the attention of other employees at the Centre.
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The evidence indicates that Brooks and Morke did not relate
well to each other and the former testified that she was
apprehensive for her job and accordingly decided not to intervene
even though both she and McCaque termed Morke's conduct to be
"inappropriate".
On this evidence we make the following material findings of
fact as to the incident of June 13, 1985.
R.W. was seated in a rocking chair in the Environmental
Program room at the Centre. He was somewhat agitated which he
expressed. by yelling. In order to distract him, Morke tossed a
soft bean bag or ball which first hit his helmet! then rolled
into his lap and thereafter~ onto the floor. We also find that
Morke tapped R.W. 's helmet lightly with a drumstick again for the
purposes of distracting him with the hope ,of bringing 'to an end
his state of agitation. We ,do not accept the evidence of Brooks
that then bean baq or ball was thrown twice or that s.tuffed toys
were also involved. In this respect we prefer the evidence of
Morke as corrobora~ted by that of McCaque. However; we also find
that these actions on the part of Morke had the effect of further
disturbing R.W. who.-then by flailing his arms and other motions
aggravated a pre-existing injury. We agree with Morke that the'
tapping of R.W. 's helmet by means of the drumstick, a matter that
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was not observed by either Brooks or McCague, was inappropriate.
We make the same finding as to the throwing or tossing of the
bean bag or ball. While it may have been done with the intention
of distracting R.W., it was not in our view a reasonable response
0,~ the part of a residential counsellor who was called upon to
deal with behaviour such as that exhibited by R.W. We therefore
agree with the Employer that Morke's actions we're inappropriate
and that some disciplinary.response was warranted.
However, we do not think that a three day suspension was
either just or reasonable in all of the circumstances. Morke is
32 .years of age and has been an employee since July 31, 1981 and
a Residential Counsellor at the Centre for almost five years. He
has never' been disciplined or counselled for inappropriate
behaviour or conduct. The .incident'in. question in our view was
not one of serious moment and we are not prepared to give it the
same gloss as did the Employer. In our opinion, it was a reflex
reaction on the part of Morke which although inappropriate in the
circumstances, was not the result of a pre-meditated intent to
apply force or bring about psychological '~'-L'- or emotional harm.
Neither do we view his reaction to have been .by reason of the
"stress" of the situation in which he found himself nor do we
think that what he did was an outburst of anger. In our view, it
Was an automatic response to R.W. 's conduct' without sufficient
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consideration as to how he could be more appropriately distracted
from his state of agitation. Although what he did would appear to
fall within the meaning of "abuse" as set out in the Ministry of
Community and Social Services "Standards of Conduct and Discip-
linary Guidelines", which treats a variety of conduct as
amounting to "abuse", we do not think that his actions amounted
to an "abuse" within the ordinary meaning of the word and we are
not prepared to approve the Employer's.designation of his conduct
as such.
In our view, a three day suspension was excessive and cannot
be supported. As the Employer did not and could not rely on the
provisions of Section 19(4) of the Crown Employees Collective
Bargaining. Act, R.S.O. 1980, c.108 as amended, we have the power
to substitute such other penalty for the discipline as we
consider just and reasonable in all of the circumstances. In our
~view;- a written war,ning to the effect that further inappropriate
action of a similar nature might well result in more severe
discipline is the penalty that we think is the just and
reasonable one in all of the circumstances.
No reasons were advanced at the hearing as to why Morke
should not be paid for any losses in wages and other benefits
that he may have sustained as a result of the three day
suspension and the' Employer is accordingly ordered to forthwith
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compensate him therefore.
We shall retain jurisdiction over this matter in the event
any difficulties arise in the calculation of the compensation.
We now turn to the second grievance.
The case agains-t-..Morke was argued by the Employer on the
assignment which was fin the nature of a demotion basis that his
to the classif
health" within
agreement and
ication of Building Cleaner 2 was "for reasons of
the meaning of Article 5.6 of the collective
was supported by the results of a "medical
examination" conducted under Article 51.9 of the agreement.
These provisions read as follows:
"Article 5.6
Where, .for reasons of health, an ~employee is
assigned to a posltion in a classification not
having a lower maximum salary, he shall not
receive any salary progression or salary decrease
for a period of six (6) months after his
assignment, and if at the end of that period, .he
is unable to accept employment in his former
classification, he shall be assigned to a classi-
fication consistent with his condition."
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Article 51.9
Where, for reasons of health, an employee is
frequently absent or unable to perform his duties,
the Employer may require him to submit to a
medical examination at the expense of the Em-
ployer."
The Employer's decision was based entirely on the memoranda
of Dr. Hugh Chambers dated May 2 and 29, 1986 which in turn
rested on the reports of Dr. Sheldon Geller dated April 29 and
May 6, 1986. No other "medical examination" was conducted at the
instance of the Employer.
The collective agreement contains no definition of "medical
examination" but it is clear to us that in the absence of such, a
medical examination must beg one that is conducted by a medical
practitioner licenced to practice medicine or in the appropriate
case, dentistry, either in the'-~Province of Ontario or some other
recognized jurisdiction.
There was here no examination of any kind by Dr. Hugh
Chambers. He never met Morke. He decided to simply refer the
entire matter to Dr. Sheldon Geller, who although a competent
registered psychiatrist, 'was not a person' licenced to practice
medicine. Relying exclusively on the report of Dr. Geller, he
rejected the report of Dr. D. Glick based as it was in part on
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the opinion of a psychiatrist, Dr. H. Rochman, out of hand. It
was in this fashion that Dr. Chambers made his recommendation
that Morke was not fit to work with residents and that he should
be transferred to another posi~tion where he would not be
responsible for the care of the developmentally handicapped and
retarded.
In our view, there was no "medical examination" within the
meaning of Article 51.9. In fact the Employer rejected the only
medical evidence it had, namely the opinions of Dr. D. Glick and
Dr. H. Rochman and relied on the opinion of a registered
psychologist in making its determination that there were "reasons
,of health" which required Morke's assignment by way of demotion
to the classification of Building Cleaner 2.
The evidence of Dr. D. Glick and that of Dr. H. Rochman
reasonably supports the conclusion tha,t although Morke is
somewhat a perfectionist and that for this reason his inter-
personal relationships and his abilities to get along with
co-workers may at times leave something to be desired, that
nevertheless he is fit to perform the duties.of his ‘classifi-
cation of Residential Counsellor II. If the'matter before us were
to be judged solely on the basis of the "medical evidence"
available to the Emplpyer when it made its decision on June 18,
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1986, we would have had no hesitation whatever in setting aside
the challenged assignment by way of demotion.
The evidence of Dr. Ben-Aron, a psychiatrist with impressive
qualifications and a medical practitioner of considerable
experience and expertise however causes us some concern and
indeed was relied on by Counsel for the Employer. Nevertheless,
viewing his reports as a whole, we accept his opinion that Morke
does not suffer from any psychological impairment that would
interfere with .his ability to perform the job of Residential
Counsellor at the Centre and that he does not represent a risk of
harm to the residents with whom he is in daily contact. We do not
think that his difficulties in interpersonal relationships nor
the possibility that he may occasionally have minor outburst of
anger are a sufficient basis for holding that he is not fit-or
suitable to continue his work as a Residential Counsellor. We
view Dr. Ben-Aron's recommendation that Morke seriously consider
resigning from his work as a Residential Counsellor to be no more
than a recommendation based entirely upon his stated difficulties
in getting along with some of the co-workers at the Centre and
not as a finding or conclusion that he is not reasonably fit to
perform the majority of the duties of a Residential Counsellor.
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There is some evidence before us that Morke has periodically
encountered difficulty in working with other members of the
staff. The, reasons for this are amply and well set out in Dr.
Ben-Aron's reports. However, i,t must be said that his conduct in
this respect has never been the subject of discipline nor has his
approach to the residents been called into question. In these
circumstances and bearing in mind that he has never been either
counselled or warned, we think that the Employer's decision to
assign him from the classification of Residential Counsellor II
to Building Cleaner 2'cannot be supported. In this respect it is
our view that no sufficient reasons of health exist which either
did or would entitle, the Employer to make such an assignment by
way of demotion. Even giving 'the word "health" a broad and
expansive interpretation, having regard to its purpose in both
Articles 5.6 and 51.9 of the collective agreement, we do not
think that there were "reasons of health" which could reasonably
support the assignment.
In our opinion,. where the Employer attempts to act on the
basis ofl,-"reasons of health" and makes a direction requiring an
employee to submit to a medical. examination, there must be an
examination which is conducted by .a person who is licenced to
practice medicine whose opinions and conclusions justify that
there are reasons of health which warrant the assignment. We are
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not to be taken as suggesting that a medical practitioner cannot
rely, in part, on an assessment made by a qualified registered
psychologist. What we do say is that there must be a medical
examination followed by an opinion by a person licenced to
practice medicine that supports the conclusion that reasons of
health ekist' which require such an assignment. We emphasize that
Dr. Hugh Chambers did nothing whatever in this case except simply
adopt the opinion of Dr. Sheldon Geller and failed to direct any
independent medical examination. Even if the Employer, contrary
to our view, was entitled to rely exclusively upon the opinion of
Dr. Geller, we much prefer the opinion of Dr. Ben-Aron, an
experienced and impressive medical practitioner who specializes
in psychiatry, which is supported by that of Dr. D. Glick and Dr.
H. Rochman. In this connection it is appropria~te for us to state
.thaf we had the opportunity not only of reviewing the respective
reports of all of the above named doctors but we also had the
benefit of hearing the 'viva vote' evidence of Dr. Geller and Dr.
Be.n-Aron.
For these reasons we have reached the conclusion that the
assignment of Daniel Morke from the classification of Residential
Counsellor II to that of- Building Cleaner ~2 at the Huronia
Regional Centre pursuant to Article 5.6 of the collective
agreement "for reasons of health" as set out in the letter of
June 18, 1986 from the Centre's Administrator, -mu~st be set aside.
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We declare that he is and has since June 18, 1986 been an
employee in the classification of Residential Counsellor II and
the Employer is hereby directed to forthwith~ re-assign him to the
duties of this classification at the Centre.
DATED at Toronto this 1st day of September, 1988.
c. JOHN BRUNNER, VICE CHAIRMAN