A document on which a diagnosis has been crossed out is not a medical certificate

Release date: June 9, 2009

An operator challenges his dismissal. The employer applied a clause of the collective agreement calling for loss of employment following an absence of more than 7 days without satisfactory explanation. Evidence revealed that the employee refused to perform a task and that he left the premises, announcing that he was taking a 2-week leave without pay. When notified regarding the need to justify his absence, the union sent the employer an almost illegible medical note, on which the diagnosis had been crossed out. The arbitrator upheld the dismissal, ruling that the note submitted did not satisfactorily explain the absence, since it did not include any diagnosis. In addition, the employee had never mentioned any health problem whatsoever before the employer asked him to justify his absence. The arbitrator rejected the grievance, specifying that the employer was under no obligation to ask the employee to send a medical certificate with a diagnosis before terminating his employment. Syndicat des travailleurs de Câbles d’acier de Pointe-Claire (CSN) v. Les Industries de Câbles d’acier ltée (G. Monette), DTE 2008T-407 (T.A.) Me Jean-Louis Dubé (June, # 3)


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