tuned wrote:They trumped up some HR beef that "Big" Al had threatened to kill Neil McCrae to try and get out of it.
I am not arguing with your analysis of Al's situation, but commenting on the Wheeler situation. Employers have a pretty wide range of rights in the "Just Cause" category of firing people. It begins, of course, with HR's careful statement of what is unacceptable behaviour. And how well it is communicated to all employees.
A dozen years ago, a friend of mine was fired for telling an off colour joke in the cafeteria during the Lunch Hour. One that was derogatory to Women. Even though he could make the point that he wasn't getting paid during his Lunch Hour, so it was "his time", not the employer's, the fact that it was on company property was enough to dissuade any lawyer from taking his case for Wrongful Dismissal.
The key piece that won the fight for the Employer was their very clear policy, thoroughly explained in one of their mandatory Employee Training courses, that defined Harassment (of other employees). Even use of the F word was grounds for immediate dismissal because some female employees found its use "threatening".
Of course, my friend was neither the first nor last to tell this kind of joke on company property. He just had the unfortunate "luck" of being seated at a table next to an HR employee who either knew him by name or read his security badge.
That is just "internal" behaviour. External behaviour, i.e. - speaking publicly, especially to the media, leaves the burden of proof on the employee that he/she is not associated with their employer. For many employers, employees can be fired for speaking publicly in any way that associates them with their employer.
As I said, all the cases that I'm aware of failed to be classified as Wrongful Dismissal. Admittedly, Whistle Blower legislation has more recently started to protect employees in certain situations. And the emergence of social media where people list their current employer.