OK to Fire Employee for Threatening to Bring Gun to Work

A food store employee upset at how a manager treated a co-worker made a statement she’d come to regret: “If [the manager] ever treated me like that, I’d go home, get my boyfriend’s gun and bring it to the store.” The arbitrator upheld the decision to fire her, citing the employee’s disciplinary record as evidence of her assertive, disrespectful and profanity-laced behaviour. Threats of violence can’t be tolerated, especially when they involve guns, the arbitrator reasoned [Overwaitea Food Group v. United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1518 (FS Grievance), [2012] B.C.C.A.A.A. No. 119, Sept. 5, 2012].