Arbitrator orders university to pay $1,000 in compensation to several employees
The University of Manitoba has been ordered to pay $1,000 to several employees over accusations of discrimination in the school’s carpentry shop. The ruling follows a hearing into complaints that offensive comments, including directing the N-word towards a black employee, was tolerated by the shop’s manager.
“The university breached its obligation to ensure, so far as reasonably practical, a safe, healthy, and respectful workplace for all employees in the Fort Garry carpentry shop,” arbitrator Arne Peltz concluded on Monday. Peltz also noted that many of complaints brought through the union lacked evidence, but pointed out that there was “a pattern of unprofessional local management practices.”
U of M director of public affairs, John Danakas, told the Winnipeg Free Press that the university had already completed its own investigation that “determined changes were necessary — including bringing in a new manager.”