Serious Safety Violation Not Cause For Termination

In the 2011 decision of Plester v. Polyone Canada Inc., an Ontario Court held that an employer did not have just cause to terminate a senior employee who committed a serious safety violation and subsequently failed to report it, in violation of company policy.

John Plester was a line supervisor at Polyone Canada Inc. (Polyone), a company that manufactured plastic pellets using a complex and potentially dangerous process. Polyone had a strong health and safety culture, and emphasized what it termed the "Cardinal Rules" related to health and safety which employees were required to follow.  One such rule was a requirement that machines being worked on by employees be locked out in order to avoid the possibility that the machine could start up accidentally and cause injury. Another Cardinal Rule was that employees were strictly required to report any safety violations, even minor incidents.