Case Note: On Playing Baseball While On Sick Leave

In Telus Communications Inc. v. Telecommunications Workers' Union, 2013 ABQB 355, the court upheld the termination of a grievor who claimed that he had been too sick to attend work in client's homes but had been able to effectively manage his symptoms on the baseball field. The arbitrator hearing the termination grievance had substituted a one-month suspension for the dismissal. On judicial review, the reviewing court held that the only reasonable conclusion on the evidence was that the grievor had lied about being sick and that termination was warranted. There was no reason to remit the matter to another arbitrator, given that finding. In Telus Communications Inc. v Telecommunications Workers Union, 2014 ABCA 199, a majority of the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld all aspects of the lower court's decision. It held that the evidence before the arbitrator supported the finding that the grievor was untruthful at the hearing. The arbitrator had erred in failing to consider