Rock Belyea was employed by Syncrude Canada as a crane operator for 10 years. During his time at

Syncrude, Belyea received positive evaluations and was considered a valuable employee. He also had a

history of aggression at work.

In 2012, Belyea entered the lunch room and discovered that a junior employee was sitting in his

favourite chair. He asked the employee to get up but the employee refused. An argument ensued, and

in the course of the argument, Belyea threw a chain at the employee, hitting the employee's hand and

spilling his lunch.

Following the incident, Syncrude conducted a full investigation, which included:

hearing Belyea's side of the story

interviewing multiple witnesses to the argument

allowing Belyea to review and respond to the complainant's account.

The investigators determined that Belyea was not a credible witness and found that the incident

occurred as described by the employee. They concluded Belyea breached Syncrude's Treatment of

Employees Policy pertaining to a physical act of violence.

Following the investigation, Syncrude held a meeting where Belyea was provided with another

opportunity to comment on his conduct. However, he continued to maintain that he dropped the chain

on the floor and that it did not hit the employee. He was not remorseful, and he refused to accept

responsibility for his behaviour. As a result, Syncrude decided to terminate his employment for breach

of the TOE Policy

Consequently, Belyea brought a claim against Syncrude for wrongful dismissal. He argued that what

happened was a minor incident and that the chain fell out of his hands onto the floor. He also argued

that some of the witnesses for sync rude wanted him fired and therefore blew the incident way out of proportion.

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