Should this guy lose his job

[Josephus]

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/05/12/hydro-one-firing-tfc-fan-after-vulgar-comment

Background: There was a soccer match in Toronto (that I attended). After the game, a female TV station reporter was doing a post-gamer with fans, when some fans started saying "fuck her right in the pussy" which, apparently is a meme these days. She accosted them for it, and then one guy in an Arsenal shirt decided to ramble on. This went viral and today his company, a corporation called Hydro One, fired him.

While the guy was an idiot and was obviously disrespecting the woman and her profession, and quite obviously, his company has a sexual harrasment policy, should he lose his job over it, given that it happened outside his place of work, he wasn't working, and it had nothing to do with his job.

Thoughts?

A man who hurled a vulgar comment and swore at a CityNews reporter outside of a Toronto FC game is being fired by Hydro One.

The company confirmed Shawn Simoes is in the process of being terminated from his position as an assistant network management engineer/officer.

"Hydro One is taking steps to terminate one of its employees for violating its code of conduct," said the company's director of communications Daffyd Roderick told the Toronto Sun Tuesday. "Respect for all people is ingrained in our values. We're committed to a work environment where harassment of any kind is met with zero tolerance and a swift response."

Roderick would not specify how long Simoes was employed at Hydro One, as that is "a personnel issue."

Two days after reporter Shauna Hunt turned her mic on obnoxious Toronto FC supporters, MLSE revealed Tuesday morning they're hunting down the fans involved.

City News reporter Hunt -- tired of being harassed on the job -- barked back when an unidentified TFC fan yelled "f--- her right in the p----" into her mic outside BMO Field.

Mobile users click here to watch the video



In the aftermath, Hunt asked another man now identified as Simoes, "What if your mom saw you?"

"My mom would die laughing," he replied with a bellowing laugh.

Simoes also said Hunt was lucky she did not have a "vibrator" in her ear.

According to public documents, Simoes made the 2014 Sunshine List with a salary of roughly $106,510 with $709.10 in taxable benefits.

Ontario ombudsman Andre Marin weighed in on Twitter.

"Public servants should b held to a higher std at all times. Engaging in a very public act of sex harass't deserves quick sanction," he tweeted.

Ontario Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli said that regardless of where this individual works, this behaviour is "absolutely unacceptable.

"Freedom of the press means freedom to be able to communicate in a reasonable manner," Chiarelli said. "And if that is brought to my attention, and we can identify who that individual is, certainly we'd take that back to the office and take some kind of action." The Ontario government is currently the sole owner of Hydro One, and it comes under the oversight of the energy minister.

Simoes is listed as a midfielder on the Ontario Hydro Soccer League and is a former player on the Golden Hawks soccer team at Wilfred Laurier University. According to an online article from WLU, he tried out for TFC in 2006.

When contacted Tuesday, Hunt said, "Going into this, our intention was not to vilify those two guys, they just happened to be the example of what hundreds of guys have been shouting at City(News) and all over the city for the past two years now," she said. "We just wanted to shed light on the bigger issue — that it's not OK to yell the P-word at me or any reporter. It's unacceptable and that was the stance we were taking.

"It was happening everywhere I turned and this is the result."

The Toronto Sun has tried to contact the men involved — including a man who wore a TFC jersey and sunglasses who told Hunt he and his friends had been waiting to make the vulgar statement on live TV — but as of yet, have been unable to reach them.

[The Brain]

If his employer no longer wants to employ him then yeah I guess.

[Josephus]

WEll, in this country anyway, employer needs "just cause" to fire someone. He can sue for wrongful dismissal.

[Admiral Yi]

Then I suppose it depends on the wording of the employee conduct code.

[The Brain]

I think it's fundamentally sound if business relationships are voluntary.

[Liep]

WEll, in this country anyway, employer needs "just cause" to fire someone. He can sue for wrongful dismissal.

Being an asshole should be a fireable offense.

[Barrister]

I have to think that Hydro One is unionized, so it depends on their collective agreement.

My take is that this might not be "just cause", but beyond that - sure, well within their rights to let the guy go.  He maybe/probably should get payment in lieu of notice, but he should still be canned.

[crazy canuck]

WEll, in this country anyway, employer needs "just cause" to fire someone. He can sue for wrongful dismissal.

Sure but your question was whether this guy should lose his job.

Whether he has any legal recourse is another question which, as already pointed out, will turn on the terms of his employment contract or of the collective bargaining agreement if he is unionized.

[Josephus]

I'm having a bit of trouble with the "well within their rights" bit.

If I get drunk on a Saturday night (or any other night), do something stupid like say tell the bartender, "hey nice tits" and she posts it on Facebook. Does my company have the right to fire me? Let's assume that my job is low visibility profile, say, a clerk.

[Barrister]

I'm having a bit of trouble with the "well within their rights" bit.

If I get drunk on a Saturday night (or any other night), do something stupid like say tell the bartender, "hey nice tits" and she posts it on Facebook. Does my company have the right to fire me? Let's assume that my job is low visibility profile, say, a clerk.

Your employer has the ability to fire you at any time, for any reason.*

They'll probably have to give you proper notice (or payment in lieu of), but that's it.




*Well, they can't fire you for prohibited grounds under the HRC - so they can't fire you for your race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, etc.  But it's a narrow exception.

[crazy canuck]

I'm having a bit of trouble with the "well within their rights" bit.

If I get drunk on a Saturday night (or any other night), do something stupid like say tell the bartender, "hey nice tits" and she posts it on Facebook. Does my company have the right to fire me? Let's assume that my job is low visibility profile, say, a clerk.

An employer has the "right" to terminate any non unionized employee they wish without cause.  They just need to give working notice or pay in lieu.  I think what you are arguing is that they didn't have cause which is a separate issue.

[Liep]

I'm having a bit of trouble with the "well within their rights" bit.

If I get drunk on a Saturday night (or any other night), do something stupid like say tell the bartender, "hey nice tits" and she posts it on Facebook. Does my company have the right to fire me? Let's assume that my job is low visibility profile, say, a clerk.

There's a huge difference between being drunk and stupid and being drunk, stupid and an asshole all while being on tv.

[Admiral Yi]

The question you mean to be asking is whether it's morally defensible to fire you.

[Malthus]

The published claim is that he;s being fired for violating the Code of Conduct. However, it isn't something that actually falls within Hydro's published code of conduct, which is here:

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hydroone.com%2FCareers%2FDocuments%2FCode_of_Business_Conduct.pdf&ei=TnZSVcycD8z_yQTZoIHoAg&usg=AFQjCNHDxtn88UHWrGmWBt6hGPwmPSgxWg&bvm=bv.92885102,d.aWw

See p. 11, "harrassment". It all has to do with harrassment in the workplace.

My take - assuming he's not unionized - he'll probably get notice. Of course a company can fire someone for being an asshole or embarrasing them, but it looks like they will be on the hook for notice. 

[Admiral Yi]

Anything about conduct harming the company's image?