Manager Used Safety Incident as Excuse to Get Rid of Supervisor

For 13 years, a mill safety supervisor worked productively without any incidents or poor performance issues. But then a new manager, Mr. C, took over. While it was dislike at first sight, Mr. C fired the first shot by issuing the supervisor his first ever performance warning for declining department productivity. The supervisor considered the warning unfair and relations worsened. Mr. C persuaded his superiors to fire the supervisor for failing to report a welding incident. After hearing all the witnesses, the Alberta court found that Mr. C’s story lacked credibility. Although the welding incident merited discipline, the court concluded that Mr. C’s real reason for firing the supervisor was that he deemed him disrespectful and unwilling to treat him like ‘the boss.’ According to the court, Mr. C’s emails to upper manager were ‘just short of being hysterical and so obviously an attempt to’ overblow what were really ‘very manageable employment issues.’ But while awarding the supervisor one year’s notice, the court nixed punitive damages [Baker v Weyerhaeuser Company Limited, 2020 ABQB 808 (CanLII), December 23, 2020].