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Harrasment in public..Hydro One fires "jerk" for reporter prank

Jul 22, 2016

Heckling of Vancouver TV reporter leads to police investigation
http://www.680news.com/2016/07/22/heckling-of-vancouver-tv-reporter-leads-to-police-investigation-2/

Also sort of Pokémon Go related,
MacDonald was reporting on a group of Pokemon Go players that had gathered in Robson Square when a man stepped beside her and uttered a vulgarity while appearing to record the episode with his cellphone.

Also reported in HuffPost BC as, "Unholy Douchebag Interrupts CTV Vancouver Report With 'FHRITP' Prank".  ;D

( I don't think FHRITP is funny. I don't know why anyone would. But, I thought the "Unholy Douchebag" headline was.  :) )
 
Brihard said:
The CAF is hardly unique for having certain situations in which someone will lose their job if it's reasonably believed they engaged in certain conduct.

Eg: The FHRITP incident at the CNE,

Harrasment in public..Hydro One fires "jerk" for reporter prank 
https://army.ca/forums/threads/119361.150
8 pages.

Hydro One eventually re-hired him because,

A) He was in a union.

B) His job at Hydro One was not "client facing". His job responsibilities were internal. ie: He did not represent Hydro One to the public on a day-to-day basis.

For jobs that involve a high level of public trust, even if in a union,

Canadian HR Reporter

Certain jobs require a high level of skill and a high level of trust from both employers and the public. For employees working in those types of positions, it’s possible that off-duty behaviour can call into question that trust, if it demonstrates poor judgment. And if an employer no longer has confidence that an employee has the judgment to perform a job of high skill and responsibility, the result could be dismissal.
https://www.hrreporter.com/columnist/employment-law/archive/2013/04/22/professional-conduct-outside-of-profession/

 
The Union part has nothing to do with it except he had representation, and I'll bet if he had grtabbed her genitals and said "you know you liked it", the result would have been different.
 
Bruce Monkhouse said:
The Union part has nothing to do with it except he had representation,

Global News

Why was Hydro One worker in FHRITP incident rehired?

Simoes’ status as a unionized employee is a major factor, and Kastner* says a non-unionized worker in his shoes would have a much harder time regaining their job.
https://globalnews.ca/news/2316399/why-was-hydro-one-worker-in-fhritp-incident-rehired/

* Ontario Labour Lawyer Danny Kastner
http://www.kastnerlaw.ca/danny-kastner
"He has expertise in employment law, labour law and civil litigation, with a focus on human rights, professional discipline and defamation.
In a broad range of sensitive workplace matters, Danny also acts as an independent investigator.
Danny is a past Chair of the Labour and Employment Section of the Ontario Bar Association. He also serves as a Board Member for the Industrial Accident Victims’ Group of Ontario."




 
mariomike said:
Eg: The FHRITP incident at the CNE,

Harrasment in public..Hydro One fires "jerk" for reporter prank 
https://army.ca/forums/threads/119361.150
8 pages.

Hydro One eventually re-hired him because,

A) He was in a union.

B) His job at Hydro One was not "client facing". His job responsibilities were internal. ie: He did not represent Hydro One to the public on a day-to-day basis.

For jobs that involve a high level of public trust, even if in a union,

Yeah, but he didn't do it at work or in an extension of the workplace (e.g., work Christmas party). He was fired for off duty conduct in public not impacting directly on the workplace or someone in it. Try yelling 'FHRITP' at a company teleconference.
 
Brihard said:
He was fired for off duty conduct in public not impacting directly on the workplace or someone in it.

He didn't say FHRITP. Someone else did.

Shawn defended it on City-TV News. There was no mention or identification of his employer.

People recognized him and identified his employer. When that public connection was made, they fired him.

Professional conduct outside of profession ( in Ontario ) was discussed here,
https://www.hrreporter.com/columnist/employment-law/archive/2013/04/22/professional-conduct-outside-of-profession/
"How far should high standards of professional conduct apply when employees are off duty?"

Where I worked, some members also committed off-duty career suicide on social media.

The union took these cases to arbitration. Sometimes the arbitrator's ruling was favourable to the employee. Sometimes it wasn't.

No union. No arbitration.

"The Arbitration Board, or single arbitrator, as the case may be, shall hear and determine the grievance and shall issue a decision, and the decision shall be binding upon the Union, the City and upon any employee affected by it."






 
mariomike said:
He didn't say FHRITP. Someone else did.

Shawn defended it on City-TV News. There was no mention or identification of his employer.

People recognized him and identified his employer. When that public connection was made, they fired him.

Professional conduct outside of profession ( in Ontario ) was discussed here,
https://www.hrreporter.com/columnist/employment-law/archive/2013/04/22/professional-conduct-outside-of-profession/
"How far should high standards of professional conduct apply when employees are off duty?"

Where I worked, some members also committed off-duty career suicide on social media.

The union took these cases to arbitration. Sometimes the arbitrator's ruling was favourable to the employee. Sometimes it wasn't.

No union. No arbitration.


"The Arbitration Board, or single arbitrator, as the case may be, shall hear and determine the grievance and shall issue a decision, and the decision shall be binding upon the Union, the City and upon any employee affected by it."

bingo, no union= no arbitration.
However, something we have been doing for a number of years now with employee contracts is putting mediation clauses into individual contracts of employment, and also very strong protection of privacy as well as personal reputation interests.  Edit: we have also sometimes put these terms into consulting contracts.
 
Cloud Cover said:
bingo, no union= no arbitration.
However, something we have been doing for a number of years now with employee contracts is putting mediation clauses into individual contracts of employment, and also very strong protection of privacy as well as personal reputation interests.  Edit: we have also sometimes put these terms into consulting contracts.

That sounds like a good idea.

My limited understanding of labour law is that unionized employees do not have the right to sue their employer in court if they are fired or demoted.

Unionized employees have no legal right to take their grievance to arbitration. Whether to accept or proceed with an employee's grievance is entirely up to the union. The employee can not insist the union proceed with it.

Even if the union decides to take the dismissal to arbitration, the arbitrator's decision is final. ie: The arbitrator may take the side of the employer.

In this case there was no harassment of fellow employees, and the employee does not deal directly with the public. So, I was not surprised the union took his grievance to a successful arbitration. 
 
Bruce Monkhouse said:
The Union part has nothing to do with it except he had representation, and I'll bet if he had grtabbed her genitals and said "you know you liked it", the result would have been different.

Not really. Like the PM says, "She just experienced it differently." ;)
 
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