The employer issued a three (3) day suspension to a grievant with twenty-six
(26) years seniority for falsifying an investigative report. The dispute
in the case concerned the grievant’s whereabouts between 6:00 a.m. and 6:32 a.m.
on the morning of February 3rd, 2016. At 6:00 a.m., a large number of workers
were directed to the pulp dryer area in order to receive the daily work
assignments. The grievant testified that he arrived in the area shortly after 6
a.m. after stopping to change clothes. The supervisor reported not witnessing
the grievant in the area at any time during the approximate half an hour. At
6:32 a.m., the supervisor paged the grievant. The grievant greeted the
supervisor immediately. The grievant testified that the supervisor was
confrontational toward him and asked for an explanation of his whereabouts. The
grievant attempted to explain he had been in the area the entire time but got
interrupted by the supervisor who disagreed with him. A verbal exchanged ensued
between the two. The human resource manager conducted an investigation in which
no other worker could corroborate the grievant’s statement. Subsequently, the
grievant was issued the suspension for falsifying his statement regarding the
matter of his whereabouts. The union argued that the human resource manager was
an experienced investigator and produced no notes of the workers interviews nor
provided any video evidence of the matter. Additionally, the employer failed to
produce any witnesses, including the supervisor, who was the real problem in the
incident. The employer maintained that it was a dischargeable offense to falsify
investigative reports and that when the grievant was provided evidence to his
initial report about his whereabouts, his story was substantially changed. The
arbitrator determined that the employer failed to prove that the grievant was
not where he said he was or proved that he made false statements deliberate in
nature. Award: grievance sustained.