A traffic accident: the employee must prove that there was no negligence on his part

A long-distance truck driver challenged his dismissal. The employer claimed negligence on his part for colliding with a semi-trailer on the road ahead of him. The employer’s truck was declared a total loss. Firstly, the arbitrator emphasized that it is up to the person responsible for a fault to prove that he was not negligent when an event is not supposed to occur in the normal course of events. Thus, just because the employer bears the burden to proof in disciplinary matters does not mean that the employee is exempt from proving that he was not guilty of any negligence whatsoever in the way he was driving his truck at the time of the accident. In fact, the arbitrator concluded that the accident was caused by negligence on the part of the employee who had not been paying attention to what was happening in front of him while driving. Considering his previous record, the dismissal is a reasonable measure.

Association des chauffeurs de Transport Couture v. Transport Couture & Fils, DTE 2012T-12 (T.A.) Me Denis Provençal