An arbitrator with the BC Labour Relations Board ordered Cariboo Pulp and Paper Co. to pay a Unifor Local 1115 member $5,750 in damages, plus wages and benefits, in a Dec. 11 ruling on a long-running grievance.
“The present case is all about the grievor’s individualized assessment,” said the decision by Arne Peltz. “He has not been subjected to any blanket denial of opportunity. The disputed issue is the nature and pace of the company’s assessment.”
The grievor, whose name was not mentioned in the written decision, worked in the company’s Quesnel pulp mill since 1988 with a clear disciplinary record. For 15 of those years, the worker held the safety-critical job of control room engineer in the steam plant.
But trouble began on Feb. 26, 2020, when the worker failed to respond to 17 alarms in the control room, explaining he “failed to grasp the magnitude of the problem.” The worker continued on the job, but was on leave due to pneumonia from March 16, 2020 until May 3, 2020.
The company became concerned about potential cognitive impairment due to memory lapses and mental confusion by the worker, who suffered a stroke in 2017.
“The employer considered imposing discipline over the alarm incident but opted instead to investigate whether a potential medical issue was a causal factor,” the decision said. “This triggered a lengthy series of contentious interactions between the union and the company over disclosure of the grievor’s personal medical information and the propriety of further medical assessment.”
The man was not allowed back to work and a grievance filed May 1, 2020, alleging unjust suspension. The parties agreed to an independent medical examination by Vancouver neuropsychologist Dr. Sarah Greer. Greer’s April 2021 report found the worker suffered from “permanent mild neurocognitive disorder” due to the stroke. Greer also noted the worker self-reported ceasing “heavy drinking” and “chronic cannabis use.”
The worker was found safe to gradually return to work under an occupational therapist’s monitoring. But the company demanded another independent medical examination to assess the worker’s substance use history.
“The grievor’s situation was dire as he was still not permitted to work and was receiving no income. He was on an unpaid leave but continued to receive benefits,” the decision said.
Arbitration hearings began in October 2021 and a preliminary January 2022 decision permitted the company to hold the worker out of service. It was, however, ordered to accommodate the worker in “an existing, nominally safety sensitive temporary position.”
Another doctor’s report in February 2022 found no substance use issue and the worker returned in March 2022 to a temporary stores job at a reduced level of pay — the minimum $32-an-hour mill rate. In April 2023, the worker was restored to his previous pay rate and returned to his previous job on a graduated schedule.
Peltz concluded the company, in general, “proceeded reasonably expeditiously,” and is not responsible for the grievor’s loss of full wages during the return to work period.
Peltz denied the union’s claim, “except that two months of wages and benefits shall be paid to the grievor for undue delay by the company” in retaining an occupational therapist after Greer’s November 2022 addendum report.
Last April, West Fraser Timber Co. announced dissolution of its joint venture with Mercer International Inc. at Cariboo. The mill, which employs approximately 300 people, produces northern bleached softwood kraft pulp, related by-products and energy, according to West Fraser information.
