Playing the system and getting caught
Sam’s termination letter was pretty direct. It said:
“During our recent meeting we discussed that you had actively worked for another employer while calling in sick the same days for scheduled shifts. In addition you claimed to be disabled from work due to injury, to the extent that you could not come to work to perform even light/sedentary duties as proposed in the employer’s offer of modified work.
“Further investigation by the employer revealed that while you were making this claim of disability you were undertaking normal activities of daily living such as shopping and running errands and conducting basketball drills several times a week.”
Sam had been with the company for 20 years and was in a union. He grieved his termination and the matter went before an arbitrator.
Sam always worked the graveyard shift at a brewing company and would only work a day or afternoon shift for training purposes. Eventually, he showed up with a doctor’s note indicating he could only work graveyard shifts of 6.5 hours. The note said excessively long night shifts had an adverse effect on Sam’s sleep/work cycle and medical condition. This accommodation was anticipated to be required for a year.
After a while, the employer decided to move Sam to the afternoon shift so he could work a full 9.5 hours. Every time he was scheduled for a non-graveyard shift, however, he called in sick. He stopped getting shifts for a few weeks and then was accidentally scheduled for a 6.5-hour graveyard shift.
A couple of hours into that shift Sam reported to first aid and indicated that he had injured his back while emptying a garbage can into the compactor and went home. A few days later, he told the employer his back was fine and that he had only tweaked it. Later the same day, he told the same person that he was disabled to the point of not being able to get out of bed.
The employer emailed Sam a list of optional modified light duties for him to review with his doctor, which included sedentary work that allowed for breaks as needed. A physiotherapist note showed up indicating that Sam had difficulty maintaining any particular position like sitting, standing or walking and even felt weakness in his right arm picking up a water bottle. He was expected to be able to return to modified duties in a few weeks, but then another note from the physiotherapist was submitted indicating that he was totally disabled. He could not bend, lift, pull, push, engage in overhead activities, climb, stoop or reach forward.
The employer hired a private investigator.
Through video evidence it was determined Sam was working as a longshore worker. It also discovered that he had done this on days he had called in sick to the brewing company. When the company met with Sam and asked him about his longshore work, Sam told them it was none of their business. When he was shown a video of himself attending his son’s basketball practice when he was off and “totally disabled” Sam was unapologetic. He said he was limiting himself to what his doctor said he could do.
A week after his physiotherapist said he was totally disabled, Sam was filmed walking with an average gait with no signs of impairment. He bounced and passed a basketball without hesitation. He got in and out of his vehicle several times and walked around to different locations.
Notwithstanding his 20 years of service, the arbitrator decided Sam’s dishonesty was sufficient to warrant dismissal without compensation.
It was clear the arbitrator was extremely suspicious of Sam and thought he had probably been lying to his health-care providers who were writing all these notes for him.
Certainly outside of a union environment, calling in sick on a day when you work for another employer would usually get you fired with nothing if you are caught. The only exception would be if the job you said you were too sick to do was very physical and the other was sedentary.
Sam decided he was smart enough to play the system. He was wrong.
This article was originally published by The Hamilton Spectator.
