A provincial court judge has ordered a Prince George drug store to pay an ex-employee three weeks wages after she was fired following an incident in which a coworker kicked her.
Teresa Karen Scholer had been a cashier at Hart Drug Mart Ltd. for 10 months when, in January 2010, she was let go and was given a week's pay.
But on Tuesday, Judge Dennis Morgan agreed with Scholer that it was not enough and awarded her nearly $920.
In reaching his decision, Morgan relied extensively on video evidence from Scholer's last day of work at the business.
Scholer was working on a display on a counter next to a cashier's till when a coworker, Gisela Gilliard, approached her on the right and took some small items of a small display stand and walked out of view.
Gilliard walked back into view, Morgan said in his reasons for judgment, empty handed and likely intent to take away the now-empty stand when Scholer took the stand and dropped it to the floor on her left, apparently unaware Gilliard had returned for it.
As a result, Gilliard had to bend down pick up the stand and as she did so, it appeared in the silent video that she said something to Scholer - none of the witnesses could recall what was said - and then Scholer's head then went back as if she was either laughing or looking up in exasperation or disbelief.
Just as Scholer completed the movement, Gilliard stood up and immediately kicked her in the buttocks. Morgan said he found there was some force to the kick as Scholer was moved by it from her heals to the balls of her feet.
Scholer immediately tried to kick Gilliard back as she was walking away but appeared she did not make contact and may well have checked her kick as she claimed in testimony. Scholer also said the incident was not horseplay and was not laughing when she pulled her head back.
At the end of her shift, Scholar went to complain to the manager, but she was busy on the phone and did not acknowledge her, or Gilliard who was also present, so she left.
The next day, a day off for her, Scholer did speak with the manager and told her she was thinking of pressing criminal charges against Gilliard. Later the same day, the manager said she viewed the video and disagreed with Scholer's description of the event.
Five days later, Scholer was let go and was told "if it's not one thing with you it's going to be another."
During the trial, Hart Drug's lawyer argued she had exaggerated the incident's seriousness and reflected a dishonesty that, when prior concerns were taken into consideration, justified her dismissal.
But Morgan found Scholer had every right to complain and moreover, was not told in any formal way prior to the incident that her job was in jeopardy. Morgan also suggested any exaggeration Scholer expressed was due to the shock and surprise of being kicked unexpectedly.
The employer did present evidence Scholer committed a higher number of errors than other employees but Morgan noted a majority occurred prior to Scholer receiving a raise in November 2009 and that the head cashier said she was a good employee.
Morgan did note Scholer was 55 years old at the time, not an ideal age for a business looking for people with an eye to longer term employment, that the economy was in a general downturn and the business was in a post-Christmas downturn when she was dismissed.
.png;w=120;h=113;mode=crop)
