The employer should not judge a package by its cover: an investigation was in order

Release date: September 1st, 2016

A forestry foreman challenged his dismissal for having placed himself in a position of conflict of interest. The employer charged that, unbeknownst to himself, the foreman had conducted a business transaction with a contractor for his own personal gain. When he became aware of the facts in dispute, the employer quickly summoned a meeting of the Board of Directors, who made the decision to dismiss the employee, without hearing his version of the facts. The judge criticized the rushed decision-making process of the employer, who did not even speak to the employee or carry out an investigation. Had he done so, he would have learned that the employee had not derived any personal gain from this transaction. In fact, on two occasions in the past, the employee had refused to accept potentially very profitable contracts, thus to abide with the company’s policy regarding conflicts of interest. The judge ruled that before submitting the employee to capital punishment, it would have appropriate for the employer to obtain his version of the facts. The complaint was upheld.

Malette v. Club de recherche d’emplois du Pontiac Sortir du bois, DTE 2016T-168, 2016 QCTAT 477, Marie-Claude Grignon Esq.


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