No remittal for wronged road crews in asphalt affair

Arbitrator determines city not liable for damages

Hamilton road workers will get no compensation over unfounded allegations of asphalt theft despite an arbitrator concluding they were “cast as villains on a public stage because of city officials.”

Arbitrator Lorne Slotnick concluded the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 5167 didn’t establish the bad faith necessary for the city to be liable for damages beyond back pay that was ordered for some of the 25 workers.

“That does not mean, however, that the grievors did not suffer harm,” from widespread publicity of suggestions they had been selling asphalt from the back of trucks, found the decision, dated Dec. 20.

Slotnick points the finger at city officials “who persisted in the unproven belief that there was more to the misconduct than just time-wasting.”

He particularly targets Ward 12 Coun. Lloyd Ferguson, saying the depiction was amplified by a “loose-lipped and publicity-seeking politician.”

The media — including The Hamilton Spectator — is accused of having “eager local news reporters who were willing to report unverified and unattributed allegations.”

And he even assigns blame to the citizens of Hamilton themselves “whose prejudices and resentments unfortunately made many of them willing to believe allegations of criminal misconduct by public workers.”

The city fired nearly a third of its 81-member pothole-patching force after covert surveillance in 2012 that showed crews slacking off.

All but six eventually got their jobs back after two years of hearings and Slotnick’s ruling in May 2015 that there was a “culture of low expectations” in the department.

A police probe found no evidence of criminal behaviour.

The latest decision repeated the original finding that workers, with two exceptions, were guilty of misconduct in their employment, but there was no evidence of criminal misconduct.

They had been seeking compensation for damage to their reputations from what they described as “being portrayed publicly as criminals.”

The arbitrator faulted the city because it “made no effort to correct misconceptions in the news media, nor has it acknowledged that information it gave to police was incorrect.” But he didn’t award damages. “We are satisfied with the decision, we accept the award and we will continue to move forward,” Robert Burwash, the city’s director of employee health and labour relations, said in a statement.

The Spectator was not able to contact Ferguson, who was quoted in news stories flagged by the arbitrator.

“The Spectator was fair and responsible in its reporting on a story involving taxpayers’ dollars and a great deal of public interest,” said Editor-in-chief Paul Berton. “We stand by our reporting.”