Heywood et Al v W.B. Hutchinson & Company Ltd
| Jurisdiction | Antigua and Barbuda |
| Judge | James, J. |
| Judgment Date | 22 February 1979 |
| Court | Industrial Court (Antigua) |
| Date | 22 February 1979 |
Industrial Court
James, J. (Hearing Officer)
Mr. B. Spencer - Assistant General Secretary Antigua Workers' Union
S. Heywood -Worker (1)
H. Joseph -Worker (2)
W. Hodge -Worker (3)
Miss B. Lake-Solicitor
Mr. A. D'Ornellas-Managing Director, W. B. Hutchinson & Co. Ltd.
Mr. J. Farara-Chairman, Board of Directors Mr. B. Gordon-Storekeeper
Industrial Law - Dismissal — Workers were dismissed for dishonesty — Held that the fact that the workers were unable to say how the glow — spread got among the goods was totally unacceptable — Conduct of the workers bears relation to dismissable offences as described by section C61 of the Labour Code — Dismissal fair.
The worker was not a member of any Trade Union but the Antigua Workers' Union represented his interests in the course of his employment. The storekeeper was the Shop Steward and it was his duty to represent all workers in their best interest although this worker did not consider that that was dons in his case. He had not reported the incident to the Manager because of any irregularities and followed it up with a letter. This incident was about 6 tins of cashew nuts placed in a car without a bill. The storekeeper has asked that the cashew nuts be taken out until a bill had been made and this was done.
On the morning of the 6 th April the Storekeeper gave the worker two bills, but those that were being loaded at the time of the incident had been picked out the previous day. There were a number of bills to be loaded on the van that morning and there was no glow spread on any of these, but they were among a consignment that had already been checked by the storekeeper but had not yet been placed on the van.
The pile of glow spread was stacked about 3 ft. from the door and not among the goods that had been picked out. The worker did not know how they got among the goods to be delivered and it was not he who had pushed them among the goods. The storekeeper had said that by had seen him (the worker) take up the Glow Spread and put them among the other goods but the only time he could recall seeing the two cartons of Glow Spread was when they were removed from the van.
The Glow Spread would have had to be removed to get among the other goods, and the storekeeper did not see the worker put them among the goods or make any sign to Worker 3. It was Worker 3 who put the Glow Spread on the van as it was he who was loading that morning
The worker had taken up a cutlass because he was angry at being accused of something that he hadn't done. When they were all together with the manager the store keeper said that he had seen the worker push the glow spread among the other goods, but none of the workers knew or saw how the glow spread came to be among the consignment as there was no bill relating to 1 lb. glow spread that morning.
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(i) One (1) carton of glow spread weighs 24 lb. thus the worker was in position to push two (2) cartons with his foot.
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(ii) The storekeeper checks the goods exactly where the worker places them after he takes them off the shelf and then the van-driver rechecks them and places them next to the door.
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(iii) A number of hills had been picked out the night before and there were two others to be picked out. While he was picking out the 2 nd bill, the storekeeper who was sitting on a pile of the glow spread called out and accused him of the incident.
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(iv) The worker did not recall handling any glow spread the previous day or the day in question and he had no conversation with worker 2 and worker 3 that morning about glow spread.
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(i) This worker was employed with the company as a van driver for three (3) years sand 11 months. He was at work on the 6 th April and at about 8:45 a.m. the storekeeper told him to check the goods for delivery. He inquired if he (the storekeeper) had already checked them and was told yes. There were goods that had been picked out the day before, so he got up from the chair on which he was sitting and began to check the goods. After checking each bill he placed the goods at the entrance of the warehouse to be placed in the van by the porter.
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(ii) Five (5) bills had been completed and on going to the 6 th the worker did not see the bill so he inquired about it from the storekeeper who at that time was sitting on a pile of glow spread which was next to the west entrance of the door. He came up and pointed out the bill and then returned to sit on the pile of glow spread. While checking this bill the storekeeper called out to worker No. I and said that he had seen him put (2) cartons of glow spread among the goods worker 2 had just checked. He then returned to worker 3 and told him to take out the two (2) cartons of glow spread that he had just put in the van before he called the manager. He then turned and told worker 2 that he knew about the glow spread and could not deny it, but the worker replied that his back had been turned thus the storekeeper had to be crazy and if anyone had put the glow spread it was him.
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(iii) At this point the worker explained that the previous day the storekeeper had said that he could use ‘physco’ to get the three (3) involved workers from the company however continuing his account of the incident it was reported that the storekeeper asked that the glow spread be removed from the van regardless of what was said and he specifically requested worker 3 to take out the glow spread before he called the manager but he inquired if they were not on any bill. The storekeeper preserved and then worker 3 went into the van and removed the glow spread. The storekeeper then called the Assistant Manager who inquired what was the matter, but was told to hold on so that the manager could be located. He again inquired what was the matter and the storekeeper reported that the boys had just placed 2 cartons of glow spread in the van. He then inquired where the glow spread was at, that time and was shown the two cartons that were by the door.
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(iv) The storekeeper then rushed off in his car and returned sometime later with the manager. On his arrival the manager inquired about the glow spread and was shown them at the entrance. He asked the workers who put the glow spread in the van. Worker 1 and worker 2 did not know but worker 3 said he put them in the van because he saw them among the goods. He further inquired from the storekeeper if there was anything else on the van that shouldn't be there and he said as far as he knew there was nothing else so the van could leave now. The manager said that the van should be checked to ensure that nothing else was on it that shouldn't so he had all the goods taken off. He then took all the workers to his office and inquired if they knew anything about the glow spread. All the workers except Worker 3 who said that he put the goods in the van said no. The manager then remarked so none of you know how the glow spread gut in the van. After he was again told no he said he had no alternative but to accept the storekeeper's words and thus would dismiss them. He then asked the storekeeper if he knew who put the glow spread among the goods and was told it was worker 1. The manager then cautioned the storekeeper saying he should have allowed the van to leave and if the glow spread was not returned then he would have something to go on.
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(v) The storekeeper was sitting on the pile of glow spread when worker 2 asked for the bill, he was there when he called out to worker 1 who was taking goods from the shelf. Worker 3 was in the process of putting goods in the van. The goods dealt with that day did not contain any glow spread and there were several instances that goods had been brought back because they were not on any bill.
The storekeeper had threatened to get rid of the three workers when all the other warehouse workers were present. This worker did not report that incident and was unable to say if any of the other workers had done so, neither was anything about this said to the Manager on the day of the glow spread incident.
The only time that this worker spoke to worker 2 was when he asked if some goods had already been checked. When worker 3 was packing the first heap the storekeeper was next to the counter. When he had completed the second bill the worker went to the counter and the storekeeper moved to the heap with the glow spread. He got up from the heap when the worker asked for the sixth bill. He showed it to him and returned to the glow spread heap. It was while working on this bill that the Storekeeper called out the worker 1 saying that glow spread was in the van.
The worker did not see the goods taken from the van as at that time Worker 1 and himself were involved in a debate with the storekeeper.
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(i) This worker had been employed as a porter at the company for 2 yrs. When he arrived at work that morning he met the storeroom open with his other co-workers present. He took up a broom and swept out the warehouse, then took a chair and went outside at the western side of the door and sat. The storekeeper and worker 2 were checking off some goods that had been picked out the day before. The storekeeper sent upstairs for some bills and gave it then to Worker 1 to pick out from the shelf. Sometime later worker 2 called out and said he was ready for him. He brought the first bill to the door after the Storekeeper and himself had already checked them. Worker 2 brought four (4) more bills to the door, which the worker packed at his pleasure. On the 5 th bill he picked up a box with about 2 to 3 dozen Safex, which he placed in the van and returned for, the...
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