Not all addiction is created equally

Ontario arbitrator departs from precedents in finding addiction isn’t automatic defense for stealing drugs in a medical workplace

In a recent decision, Cambridge Memorial Hospital and ONA (M. (S.)), Re, Ontario arbitrator Dana Randall upheld the discharge of a drug-dependent nurse with 28 years of service and no disciplinary record who was caught stealing narcotics from her employer. The decision is significant because it deviates from a string of arbitration decisions in Ontario which appear to support the proposition that a nurse who pleads and proves an addiction to a particular drug, and successfully commits to rehabilitation, has a human rights defense to termination for stealing that drug from her employer. One arbitrator referred to this defense as a “get out of jail free card.”

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