Parking authority fired worker after accidental stabbing with keys during scuffle
This instalment of You Make the Call looks at a worker who was fired for stabbing a co-worker.
Efrain Rodriguez was a meter technician for the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA). Over a 20-year career, Rodriguez had one altercation in the workplace where he received a two-week suspension. He took an anger-management course and agreed if he used “abusive language or aggressive or threatening behaviour” over the following 15 months, he would be terminated.
Rodriguez passed the 15 months without incident. However, two months later, on Oct. 31, 2006, he arrived at work to discover the set of keys he needed for his job duties hadn’t been returned by the technician on the earlier shift due to two emergency calls. He radioed the technician several times and the technician was finally able to return the keys forty minutes later than usual.
Rodriguez, frustrated with the delay, confronted the other technician as he prepared to leave. There was a heated verbal exchange including profanities. The technician pushed Rodriguez and there was a brief scuffle until co-workers pulled them apart.
When the technician went to clean up, he discovered a wound on his chest, apparently from the keys Rodriguez had been holding during the altercation. He came out of the washroom and told co-workers Rodriguez had stabbed him. However, he declined to file an incident report or go to the hospital because he didn’t want to get Rodriguez in trouble.
Initially, the supervisor didn’t take any action in response to the incident. However, once he learned the other technician had been hurt, he interviewed several witnesses and reported to TPA management. TPA felt Rodriguez had acted dangerously by using the keys as a weapon and he had lost control. Along with his previous incident one-and-a-half years earlier, TPA was concerned he wouldn’t be able to control his anger in the future. When Rodriguez came in to work the next day, he was fired.
Rodriguez took an anger management course after he was fired so he could address his anger issues. He said the injury was not intentional and he felt “terrible.” He also said TPA didn’t interview him about the situation before it fired him nor did it discipline the other employee involved in the altercation.
Should Rodriguez have been fired for his misconduct?
OR
Should he have received lesser discipline?
If you said Rodriguez should have received lesser discipline, you’re right. The board did allow his behaviour was not spontaneous as his anger had built up from the start of his shift. The stabbing injury was also serious.
However, it found the main reason for the firing was the injury, since TPA didn’t act until it learned of the wound. It was accidental and the other technician didn’t even know he was hurt until he cleaned up. Once Rodriguez found out about it, he apologized.
“The employer’s response to the situation was based on the assumption that the wounding had been premeditated but it appears to have been the unintended consequence of other misconduct,” the board said. “The act of injuring was not premeditated as the employer assumed.”
Because the supervisor didn’t take action immediately, the board said, he wasn’t concerned about any danger to staff. Rodriguez was allowed to complete his shift. The fact the other technician was not disciplined further showed the physical altercation was not an issue.
“It must be concluded that if events had stopped with the haranguing of (the other technician), and if no injury had resulted from their scuffle, management would not have even taken notice of the events,” the board said.
Rodriguez showed a desire to remedy the situation by taking an anger management course after he was fired and apologizing, the board said. It ordered TPA to reinstate him, but because of the seriousness of his misconduct, he wasn’t entitled to compensation for the year of lost income since his firing. It would be considered an unpaid suspension. See Toronto Parking Authority v. Toronto Civic Employees’ Union, Local 416, 2007 CarswellOnt 9236 (Ont. Arb. Bd.).
Efrain Rodriguez was a meter technician for the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA). Over a 20-year career, Rodriguez had one altercation in the workplace where he received a two-week suspension. He took an anger-management course and agreed if he used “abusive language or aggressive or threatening behaviour” over the following 15 months, he would be terminated.
Rodriguez passed the 15 months without incident. However, two months later, on Oct. 31, 2006, he arrived at work to discover the set of keys he needed for his job duties hadn’t been returned by the technician on the earlier shift due to two emergency calls. He radioed the technician several times and the technician was finally able to return the keys forty minutes later than usual.
Rodriguez, frustrated with the delay, confronted the other technician as he prepared to leave. There was a heated verbal exchange including profanities. The technician pushed Rodriguez and there was a brief scuffle until co-workers pulled them apart.
When the technician went to clean up, he discovered a wound on his chest, apparently from the keys Rodriguez had been holding during the altercation. He came out of the washroom and told co-workers Rodriguez had stabbed him. However, he declined to file an incident report or go to the hospital because he didn’t want to get Rodriguez in trouble.
Initially, the supervisor didn’t take any action in response to the incident. However, once he learned the other technician had been hurt, he interviewed several witnesses and reported to TPA management. TPA felt Rodriguez had acted dangerously by using the keys as a weapon and he had lost control. Along with his previous incident one-and-a-half years earlier, TPA was concerned he wouldn’t be able to control his anger in the future. When Rodriguez came in to work the next day, he was fired.
Rodriguez took an anger management course after he was fired so he could address his anger issues. He said the injury was not intentional and he felt “terrible.” He also said TPA didn’t interview him about the situation before it fired him nor did it discipline the other employee involved in the altercation.
Should Rodriguez have been fired for his misconduct?
OR
Should he have received lesser discipline?
If you said Rodriguez should have received lesser discipline, you’re right. The board did allow his behaviour was not spontaneous as his anger had built up from the start of his shift. The stabbing injury was also serious.
However, it found the main reason for the firing was the injury, since TPA didn’t act until it learned of the wound. It was accidental and the other technician didn’t even know he was hurt until he cleaned up. Once Rodriguez found out about it, he apologized.
“The employer’s response to the situation was based on the assumption that the wounding had been premeditated but it appears to have been the unintended consequence of other misconduct,” the board said. “The act of injuring was not premeditated as the employer assumed.”
Because the supervisor didn’t take action immediately, the board said, he wasn’t concerned about any danger to staff. Rodriguez was allowed to complete his shift. The fact the other technician was not disciplined further showed the physical altercation was not an issue.
“It must be concluded that if events had stopped with the haranguing of (the other technician), and if no injury had resulted from their scuffle, management would not have even taken notice of the events,” the board said.
Rodriguez showed a desire to remedy the situation by taking an anger management course after he was fired and apologizing, the board said. It ordered TPA to reinstate him, but because of the seriousness of his misconduct, he wasn’t entitled to compensation for the year of lost income since his firing. It would be considered an unpaid suspension. See Toronto Parking Authority v. Toronto Civic Employees’ Union, Local 416, 2007 CarswellOnt 9236 (Ont. Arb. Bd.).
