OK to Fire Bus Driver for Distracted Driving

There was no dispute that a city bus driver ate rice from a bowl with both hands while driving the bus. The question was whether he deserved to be fired for it. The Alberta arbitrator said yes. The incident was very serious; although the driver was diabetic, there was no medical evidence to show that he had to eat the rice at that moment to be capable of making sound judgments while driving; the driver had been disciplined for previous safety violations; the city had fired other drivers for distracted driving; and the driver refused to apologize for the offence [Corporation of the City of Calgary v Amalgamated Transit Union Local 583, 2020 CanLII 100556 (AB GAA), December 9, 2020].