A provincial court judge has ordered a Prince George business to pay an ex-employee $1,794 in damages and costs after finding the company guilty of wrongful dismissal.
Judge Judith Doulis issued the order against Northwestern Utility Construction Ltd. in a dispute with Craig Streng, who had been let go in July 2015, in part because his supervisor mistakenly believed he caused a "near miss" between a cable truck and a train.
The day had gotten off on a "sour note" prior to the incident, Doulis noted in the ruling, issued in late May and made public this week, when Streng and office manager Dan Morgan got into a squabble over whether the company should reimburse him for the cost of some water he had bought while on the job.
Streng and work partner John Ferch were paid only while on the job and had been expecting to return to work to finish off a job in Fort St. John, started there the week before but stopped short because they had run out of cable.
But Morgan told them he had a job lined up for them in Prince George. In response, Streng contended it made no sense for them to sacrifice an entire week of work in Fort St. John for a one-day job in Prince George.
Morgan reluctantly relented, but claimed that when he called Streng on his cellphone to break the news, Streng replied with a string of expletives. At that point, Morgan said he ordered Streng to "park the trucks."
Streng disputed that the conversation took place and Doulis agreed with him, finding it made no sense for him to speak to Morgan in an offensive manner given he was going to Fort St. John as he wanted to. Instead, she suggested Streng's tirade came later that day, after Morgan told him he had been suspended.
Ferch drove away in the cable truck and Streng followed in his pickup truck and they headed to Shaw's Victoria Street facility to pick up more cable before they were to continue on to Fort
St. John.
Close by the company's Otway Road yard, they had to stop for a train and, according to Northwestern's safety advisor, Simon Hall, whose office looked over the tracks, the cable truck had stopped so close the boom encroached over them. The train blew its whistle, Ferch backed away and the train passed without incident.
Hall characterized the incident as a "near miss" and reported it to Morgan. Morgan called Streng on his cellphone to order him to turn around but because he had no hands-free connectivity, Streng didn't answer until he could pull over. And when he returned the call, it went to Morgan's voicemail, so Streng continued on.
Ferch, meanwhile did answer his cellphone and turned around.
When Streng reached the destination at Shaw, he called Morgan again and was told to "get your ass back to the office, now!"
When he arrived, Streng was given a letter by Morgan, saying it was a letter of discipline for his conduct earlier in the day and telling him he was suspended.
Ferch was also sent home because linemen have to work in teams for safety reasons.
As Streng and Ferch were talking out in the parking lot, Morgan and the safety officer approached the two. Streng admitted he said some "unflattering things" to Morgan during an extended outburst.
The next day, Morgan called Streng to tell him his employment had been terminated. Streng also received a termination letter claiming he refused to take a direct order from his supervisor and "proceeded to take company property off the employer's premises.
"This act of insubordination nearly caused an accident on the railway tracks with a CN Rail train and placed yourself, your co-worker and the public in harm's way," the letter continued.
Streng was also admonished for telling Morgan he was going to get a job elsewhere and take the company's work with him.
Streng believed he was being blamed for the "near miss" and when he told Morgan that Ferch was driving the truck, Morgan said he did not want to hear anything Streng had to say about the matter.
As well, Streng did not think there was a near miss, although Ferch thought there was. CN Rail never notified Northwestern about a near-miss incident.
Streng found a new job three weeks later as a labourer. His new employer then bought a cable truck and Streng began working as a lineman.
Unable to attract another lineman, Northwestern, meanwhile, eventually had to lay off Ferch who also moved over to Streng's new employer.
Northwestern was left with no linemen and lost their cable-laying contracts with its two largest customers, Telus and Shaw.
Streng denied he solicited Telus and Shaw to divert their business.
In part, Doulis found the "near miss" did not justify Streng's termination, saying he did not cause the incident nor was he given an opportunity to report it.
"In my view, Northwestern grasped upon Mr. Streng's failure to file a near-miss report in desperation when it learned Mr. Streng was not driving the cable truck at the time of the incident."
Doulis found Northwestern failed to show Streng had been insubordinate or acting in a conflict of interest - noting he went to his new employer only after he had been fired.
Northwestern did succeed in showing Streng guilty of one incident of insolence, Doulis found, but failed to establish on a balance of probabilities that the act warranted dismissal.
Streng had been seeking $23,400 in lost wages, based on typical earning for four months - the reasonable length of notice the company must give to terminate an employee under the implied term of Streng's employment contract.
- A previous version of this story mistakenly stated Streng was awarded $25,194. The Citizen regrets the error.
