Smoking Pot at Work Twice Is Just Cause to Fire Railway Worker

A railway worker was fired after being caught smoking pot at work twice. The worker didn’t deny consuming cannabis in the workplace or claim that he had an addiction. He relied on his clean disciplinary record, sincere remorse and the family problems that caused him to smoke pot. He also claimed that his supervisors knew about and tacitly condoned his workplace cannabis use. But the federal arbitrator didn’t buy it and upheld termination, citing the fact that he got caught on 2 different occasions and that his safety-sensitive railway job required him to be alert and focused at all times [International Union of United Metallurgy, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Energy Manufacturing, Services and Allied Industries (Local 9344) c Compagnie de chemin de fer du littoral Nord de Qu‚bec and du Labrador inc. (IOC Mining Company – Rio Tinto), 2020 CanLII 83837 (CA SA), November 3, 2020].