A federal labour board has ruled that Employment Insurance’s call-centre management acted properly when it fired a probationary agent whose on-the-job tirade questioned Black Lives Matter protests and asked coworkers, “When will there be a day to remember white people?”
Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board adjudicator Christopher Rootham said the remarks showed the worker “unsuitable to serve in a diverse public-service workplace committed to equity and respect.”
Although the discussion had no link to her duties, Rootham wrote that behaviour during working hours is part of a probationary review and that dismissal was a “good-faith response.”
The six-month employee launched into her commentary on what a colleague described as a “slow day for calls,” criticising 2020 demonstrations where then-prime minister Justin Trudeau knelt with marchers.
Witnesses recalled her saying Black Lives Matter protesters wanted to erase history by scrapping brands like Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben and insisting that “it’s not like Hitler was walking around killing people.”
Affidavits also recounted her claims that Covid-19 threats were exaggerated, that masks were unnecessary and that media coverage of suspected graves at an indian residential school in Kamloops, B.C., was overblown because the events “happened years ago.”
Hydro-Québec’s lawyer argued the comments breached the employer’s code of conduct promoting respect and inclusiveness. The board agreed, concluding that the employee’s opinions “reflected negatively on her suitability for employment in the federal public service.”
Under federal rules, probation allows managers to evaluate more than task performance, the decision noted: “A probationary period is about assessing the whole employee, including conduct that can affect workplace harmony.”
The ruling ends the woman’s challenge and confirms that public-service recruits who derail office civility with discriminatory statements risk losing their jobs before probation ends.