An operator at Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure’s Prince George light oil refinery got the boot for lying about the price of a pair.
In a May 16 decision under the Labour Relations Code, arbitrator Tonie Beharrell dismissed Kent Andrist’s grievance and said his firing was not excessive. Beharrell heard six days of evidence and arguments in January and March from lawyers for Tidewater and Unifor Local 1997 before ruling that Andrist knew or ought to have known that the $399 receipt he submitted for reimbursement was greater than the cost of the Cincinnati boots that he bought last fall.
Andrist worked at the refinery from February 2021 until his October 2024 firing. He also worked on contract as a teacher at College of New Caledonia. Andrist became chief shop steward with the union in November 2023, filed 20 grievances over 10 months and urged members to vote against renewing the collective agreement in July 2024.
When the contract was ratified, it included a $400 annual boot allowance, double the previous $200 limit.
On Oct. 25, 2024, Andrist filed an expense report for the purchase of $380 safety boots, plus $19 GST, with a receipt from Timberline Footfitters in Prince George.
An internal investigation found the boots actually cost $299 on the store website and $304 in-store. Andrist was fired last Oct. 30.
Beharrell said evidence showed three pairs of socks were thrown-in to increase the total price of the transaction to as close to $400 as possible.
It was not a momentary lapse of judgment, but a “premeditated scheme,” Beharrell ruled. There was no evidence that Andrist was confused about the boot allowance.
“He knowingly produced a receipt for reimbursement that reflected a higher cost than what was covered in the boot policy,” Beharrell wrote. “He was then untruthful to the employer when asked about it during the investigation.”
Andrist did not submit any additional facts to reduce the penalty.
