Long-time conflicts between management and the employees of the Grande Rivière (DFO Quebec) detachment, culminated with the employer’s decision to reassign a certain number of employees from their Grande-Rivière posts to other posts across the province. Essentially, the targeted members were suffering the consequences of management’s failure to resolve the issues within the detachment. For Sister Colette Major, the employer ordered her to report to Quebec City but, upon contesting and refusal to do so, was terminated from employment for abandonment of her post.
The employer argued that they had a right to order Sister Major to the Quebec City detachment by referring the adjudicator to the mobility clause of her contract of employment and that they were justified in terminating her employment because she refused an order to report to the Quebec office.
The adjudicator found that the mobility clause in the grievor’s job offer letter allowed the employer to deploy her to anywhere in Canada, which had already been done when the employer deployed Sister Major to Grande Rivière, but not to assign her for two years to the Quebec office without her consent. The adjudicator found that since the reassignment was not a deployment, her position remained at the Grande-Rivière office, and that the fact that she did not report to the Quebec office could not constitute abandoning her position. Therefore, the termination was without cause. The adjudicator ordered the deputy head to reinstate Sister Colette Major to her position at the Grande-Rivière office.
For full decision, please refer to : http://pslreb-crtefp.gc.ca/
