In Klonteig v District of Kelowna ( 2018 BCSC 124) Justice MacNaughton had a situation where an Assistant Fire Chief ( Administration) was terminated after being given a 90 day driving suspension ( but no criminal charge ) outside of working hours but while driving an unmarked District owned vehicle.
The Court found that this off duty conduct did not justify dismissal because of the following factors:
1) He was permitted to drive the District vehicle for personal use and the truck had no markings showing it was owned by the District.
2) The public was not aware of the suspension of his licence.
3) His was not the face of the employer. His duties were largely administrative.
4) No criminal charges were laid.
5) There was no evidence that the plaintiff had lost the support or respect of the other employees. In fact almost every firefighter sent a letter of support in favour of the plaintiff.
6) The conduct of drunk driving was not as morally reprehensible as possession of child porno, consorting with a prostitute on company property or engaging in a dishonest tax scheme.
I understand all the points except the last one. Nobody ever died from consorting with a prostitute or tax fraud.
Can’t say the same about drunk driving. According to MADD:
Crashes involving alcohol and/or drugs are a leading criminal cause of death in Canada. On average, approximately 4 people are killed each day in crashes involving alcohol and/or drugs. In 2013, there were a total of 2,430 crash deaths on public roads, involving at least one highway vehicle (e.g. passenger cars, vans, trucks, or motorcycles). Based on testing of fatally-injured drivers, it may be estimated that 1,451 (59.7%) of these deaths involved drivers who had some alcohol and/or drugs in their system.