I for one would have thought it would be pretty obvious, but it
actually took the matter going all the way to the Alberta Court of
Appeal to quash an arbitrator’s award reinstating a City of
Calgary employee who was terminated for groping a co-worker.
No seriously, it took two levels of review before the Alberta Court
of Appeal decided:
… the arbitrator ought to have found that the grabbing
and squeezing of a breast without consent was a sexual assault,
which is serious misconduct and not “lower end” sexual
harassment.
For the full decision in Calgary (City) v Canadian
Union of Public Employees Local 37, 2019 ABCA 388,
click here. <http://canlii.ca/t/j2vgc>
You read that right. In the grievance arbitration in
issue, a City of Calgary gardener was approached by her co-worker,
who told her that he needed a new pair of gloves. They walked
to the storage shed, where he then put his hands on her shoulders,
before proceeding to squeeze her breast. In a state of
