Arbitrator rules in favour of Telus firing worker for using the N-word

Back in 2022, Telus fired a B.C. employee for using the N-word in a training course. This was taken to arbitration, where it was ruled that the carrier was justified in firing the employee, according to Coast Reporter.

“The assertion that he did not realize that the use of the N-word and the acronym would cause offence to most reasonable people demonstrates a startling and troubling lack of insight,” labour arbitrator and mediator Koml Kandola said in a release on March 27th.

Telus fired the employee, Kelly Tomes, for the inappropriate comments used during a training course for newly hired employees. Kandola said that Tomes’ words condoned sexual violence and used offensive, racist, hateful and misogynistic language.

The Telecommunications Worker Union USW said that Tomes required discipline but disagreed with the employee getting fired. However, Telus disagreed with Tomes’ conduct and said it was “abhorrent and fundamentally incompatible with its known expectations and standards for employee conduct.”

Tomes reportedly used a racist acronym to help remember a colour-coded wiring system when teaching students.

Telus employee Jeff Cruickshank also describes the acronym used as an “inherently offensive and repugnant statement that explicitly refers to criminal sexual violence against Black women and girls.”

Tomes also reportedly used the N-word when speaking to a technician, but it was within hearing distance of those attending the class. The technician was also later fired from Telus.

Source: Coast Reporter