Workplace Violence: OK to Fire Hospital Employee for Violence against His Co-Worker

‘Talk to me like that again and we are going to have a big f**** problem.’ This voicemail, which was played in court, was just part of the evidence against a hospital employee who got fired for engaging in violence against a co-worker. Along with other incidents involving verbal abuse and threats directed against the same co-worker and the lack of significant ‘mitigating’ circumstances, the Ontario arbitrator ruled that the hospital had just cause to terminate [Michael Garron Hospital v Service Employees International Union, Local 1 Canada, 2022 CanLII 3783 (ON LA), January 26, 2022].