WARNING: This story includes graphic details. Discretion is advised.
A City of West Kelowna employee was caught watching porn on the job last summer by two of his coworkers and in return got a warning letter.
The porn-watching incident made its way into the public eye this week, following the release of a June 16 B.C. Labour Relations Board decision addressing the unionized worker’s attempt to grieve the letter, which stated he had breached the city’s Respectful Workplace Policy.
The employee, a soon-to-be grandfather, denied all wrongdoing. However, in his union grievance of the penalty, the board arbitrator said he’d received a lenient and appropriate penalty, given the allegations.
The employee works in various public parks throughout West Kelowna, doing maintenance with one or two other employees in tow.
He generally is the driver of the work vehicle they use, and gives some direction to others with him, according to the decision from arbitrator Allison Matacheskie.
On Aug. 17, 2021, he was working with two employees estimated to be around 19 years old, Matacheskie said.
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They were involved in a minor collision, so the employee parked the vehicle and went to speak to the person he hit while the younger two workers went to a nearby picnic table.
After the matter was resolved, the two younger workers claimed the three ate lunch together.
The employee, on the other hand, claimed he ate alone in the vehicle and that’s when the issue arose.
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“During lunch hour I noticed that (the employee) was looking at naked photos of young women on his personal cell phone. I saw him looking at photos when I walked past him,” the worker wrote in the original complaint.
“A few minutes later I heard moaning sounds and slapping sounds coming from his phone. This made me uncomfortable.”
Within days of receiving the report, the city’s director of human resources commenced an investigation.
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She met with the employee and a shop steward, and the employee denied looking at pornographic images on his phone.
He said the worker who complained had a “hate on for him,” according to the arbitrator’s ruling, and thought it was a “witch hunt.”
The HR director interviewed more people, and concluded the complaint had merit.
“This complaint is serious where you made a fellow coworker ‘uncomfortable’ when he was sitting beside you at the picnic table and happened to see and hear on your personal cell phone inappropriate material that was obscene or offensive,” the warning letter read.
“This complaint goes against our Respectful Workplace and Code of Conduct policies.”
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The union filed a grievance, arguing the evidence had “significant” weaknesses and the employer, the city, had failed to meet its burden of proof.
His union also argued that viewing pornography while on your lunch break at work on your personal cellphone wasn’t conduct worthy of discipline.
“Viewing pornography in the workplace in the presence of other employees is objectionable and unwelcome behavior and therefore breaches the Respectful Workplace Policy. I appreciate that it is during the lunch break, on his personal phone and the Grievor did not intend for the other employees to see or hear it,” Matacheskie said.
“However, he is still in the workplace in the presence of other employees. A key factor is that he denied it and the employer references this in the written warning. The purpose of a disciplinary penalty is to ensure that misconduct does not continue. As the Grievor denied it, I find discipline was warranted, and a warning letter, as the most lenient form of discipline, was appropriate.”