Potential of Damage to Reputation Not Just Cause to Fire Cop for Off-Duty Assault

A Toronto Police Services parking officer was charged with assaulting her domestic partner. Although the charges were later dropped, the TPS did its own internal investigation and decided to fire the officer to stave off potential harm to its public reputation. But the arbitrator said there was no just cause to terminate and reinstated the officer. There was no evidence that TPS suffered any actual harm to its reputation; moreover, TPS overlooked the role that the officer’s alcohol consumption might have played in the incident, especially since it had previously suspended her 10 days for impaired driving. TPS appealed but the Ontario court said the arbitrator’s ruling was perfectly reasonable and that there was no reason to re-weigh the evidence [Toronto Police Services Board v. Toronto Police Association et al., 2020 ONSC 6923 (CanLII), November 13, 2020].