CSR | September 2018 | News
Decision to terminate made before worker complained
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the general manager on Nov. 2.
Proactive decided to terminate
Brown's employment sooner
since it didn't want a depart-
ing employee who felt slighted
to continue working for two
months when she could become
disengaged and unproductive.
The company terminated her on
Nov. 4, providing two weeks' pay
in lieu of notice.
At the termination meeting
on Nov. 4, the general manager
first confirmed with Brown
that she was resigning effective
Dec. 24. After he informed her
of her immediate termination,
Brown tried to raise other issues
— including that she believed
Proactive hadn't given her a fair
chance — but the general man-
ager didn't want to debate her at
the meeting.
Brown later claimed she said
the incident and the Oct. 7 meet-
ing about it were unacceptable
and they terminated her after
those comments, but Proactive
management denied that was
the case. She also claimed that
she had invited the health and
safety manager and field safety
manager to the meeting, but
they weren't there. The general
manager argued he wasn't ex-
pecting them because he hadn't
invited them himself.
Brown filed a human rights
complaint, claiming the com-
ments said to her in the Oct. 7,
2016, meeting and the termina-
tion of her employment — she
claimed she didn't formally no-
tify the company of her inten-
tion to resign — constituted dis-
crimination on the basis of her
sex, contrary to the B.C. Human
Rights Code.
The tribunal found that the
instructions given to Brown
to avoid using the terms "hun"
and "sweetie-pie" to address co-
workers were reasonable and
not indicative of discrimina-
tion based on Brown's sex — the
same instructions would likely
apply to a male worker as well.
In addition, the tribunal said
the comment that Brown was
a woman working "in a man's
world" happened in the meet-
ing and nowhere else, making it
likely Proactive could establish
the comment as an isolated in-
cident. The tribunal also pointed
out that the company fired the
male co-worker who sexually
harassed Brown.
"While I appreciate that the
superintendent's comments may
have crossed the line, and may
have been discouraging for Ms.
Brown to hear, the company's
decision to fire the offending
employee spoke volumes in re-
spect of sending a message that
sexual harassment will not be
tolerated at Proactive," said the
tribunal.
Termination decision
not related to sex
The tribunal also found that
while Brown didn't formally no-
tify Proactive of her intention
to resign, the company became
aware when the operations man-
ager forwarded her texts to the
general manager and president.
Proactive then made a business
decision to terminate Brown's
employment because it didn't
want a potentially disengaged
employee working there for two
months. The evidence showed
the decision to terminate was
made before the Nov. 4 meet-
ing at which Brown claimed she
complained about discrimina-
tion and her treatment by man-
agement, and Brown's sex was
not a factor in the decision, the
tribunal said.
The tribunal determined
Brown's dismissal wasn't related
to any protected grounds under
the B.C. Human Rights Code
and dismissed her complaint.
For more information see:
• Brown v. Proactive Hazmat
& Environmental, 2018
CarswellBC 1686 (B.C.
Human Rights Trib.).
Firing < pg. 5
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