Judge sets aside dismissal of Air Canada employee

New arbitration ruling ordered for woman who stole discarded nuts and lotion

A judge has set aside the dismissal of an Air Canada employee who was fired for stealing some nuts and hand lotion from an aircraft in Vancouver.

“What are discarded nuts and hand lotion left behind by a first-class passenger on an Air Canada flight worth?” asked B.C. Supreme Court Justice Barry Davies in his ruling on the case.

“For Neena Cheema, an employee with Air Canada, they were worth the job she had worked at for 17 years.”

The incident that resulted in Cheema’s termination occurred on Feb. 10, 2016, while she was employed by the airline as a cabin service and cleaning attendant at the Vancouver airport.

She found and picked up four unopened packages of almonds and a tube of unused hand lotion left behind by a passenger in the first-class section of an aircraft that arrived at the airport. She put the items in her jacket pocket but did not, as she said she intended to do, put them on the galley counter so catering workers could determine whether the discarded items could be used again, according to the judge’s summary of the incident.

When she went into the airline’s human resources office to inquire about vacation dates, she reached into her pocket to see what time it was and found the items. She put them on the desk of the human resources employee and told her: “Here are some nuts and lotion for you.”

The human resources employee claimed Cheema also said to her: “I appreciate any help you can do.”

Air Canada investigated the incident and fired her.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers local 140, the union which represents Cheema, filed a grievance of the termination.

An arbitrator concluded Cheema committed theft and attempted to bribe the human resources employee and said the termination was not excessive under the circumstances.

In his ruling in the case, the judge found the arbitrator failed to address the question of why Cheema’s actions in taking the discarded supplies or using them in open dealings with the human resources employee warranted her termination.

He said the arbitrator also failed to look at why some lesser penalty would not appropriately address her misconduct, especially in light of her 17 years of service with Canada’s largest airline.

“I am satisfied that the arbitrator’s conclusory reasons that the ‘termination was not an excessive response in all of the circumstances’ are not transparent and do not allow Ms. Cheema to know why the termination of her employment was not excessive,” Davies said.

“As such, on the issue of penalty, the arbitrator’s reasons fail the test of reasonableness.”

The judge, however, found the arbitrator had not erred in concluding Cheema stole the items and attempted bribery.

He set aside the termination and ordered the appropriate penalty for Cheema’s misconduct be re-submitted to arbitration for determination.

“That determination must have specific regard to the principle of proportionality and the need to provide transparent reasons.”

A spokeswoman for Air Canada said the company will be participating in the ongoing arbitration process and declined further comment.

She also declined to say whether Neena Cheema is the same Neena Cheema who in April 2013 was handed a lifetime ban from The Vancouver Sun Run for cheating.

The union could not be immediately reached for comment.