Reference no: EM132878832

You are a recently-hired Vice-President of Human Resources at a mining company in Ontario, reporting to the President. You have significant knowledge and expertise in human resources, particularly in employment law. The Vice-President of Health and Safety also reports to the President. He started out working underground with the company many years ago and eventually worked his way up to the position he has now. He holds a CSRP designation, and from what you have heard about him and from meeting him, he is very knowledgeable about health and safety, and the work the employees do. He has very little knowledge of employment law.

One of the workers working underground at a remote mine site recently sought first aid for burns to his skin resulting from a chemical exposure. Working with the chemical is a common procedure in underground mining. There is a standard operating procedure in place for this and the employee completed a job hazard analysis with the site supervisor prior to doing the work. Both the employee and the supervisor signed-off on the JHA.

A few days after the first aid incident, the worker (again, while working underground) complained he felt like he was having a heart attack, and was brought to surface. Again, he was reviewed by medical staff who cleared him to return to work. The employee then refused to go to work, and stayed in his room for the balance of his rotation (approximately 2 days). He also refused to speak to site supervision about his concerns. Upon leaving the mine site, he indicated to his supervisors that he had experienced a heart attack due to his exposure to the chemical and that he was expecting a big payout from the company. Supervisors at the mine site provided the employee with a standard FAF package to complete before returning to work.

Site supervision has indicated to you that they want to terminate this employee. What would you do?

Legal strategy that identify the risks of terminating this employee. Be sure to identify how you will involve the VP of Health and Safety throughout the process and outline the following:

The steps that should be (or should have been) taken at the mine site at the time of each incident;

What communication, if any, should now be had with the employee who is at home;

What legislative requirements are applicable in this situation;

All of the legal claims the employee could make if his employment is terminated and "worst-case scenario" in terms of costs/impacts to the employer.