Beer pong at the Christmas party: no link with work

An evaluator contested a three-day suspension for having sent and then retrieved a ping-pong ball that had fallen into the cleavage of a colleague. The event occurred at an employee-sponsored Christmas party held at a community centre. Employees, their spouses and friends were allowed to attend the party, and the head of the department had also been invited. Initially, the arbitrator concluded that the second allegation against the employee had not been proven, as the colleague had admitted to removing the ball from her cleavage herself. He then concluded that the alleged act had no direct link with the employment of the persons involved and that it had not had any negative consequences on the employer’s work relations, since the colleague recognized that the whole thing had taken place in a context of play, festivity and friendship where there was a lot of alcohol. The suspension was not justified.

Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec and Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec
AZ-51789234, 2021 QCTA 439, Claude Roy