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Read Case Study 15.1 Beer Mints (starting on page 600) and the questions on page 601 Chapter Question - How should a supervisor handle complaints? Case Study 1. Do you think the discipline of Buford was fair? On what factors do you base your reasoning? 2. What is your opinion of the company's investigation and disciplinary procedure? 3. How strong is the company's case against Buford? Does it have just cause for termination? 4. How do you think an arbitrator will rule in this case? CASE 15.1 Beer Mints? Marty Cole, an outside sales representative, was walking through the parking lot to go to his temporary office in the tire manufacturing plant when he noticed a pickup truck with a man sitting in it. The man was drinking a bottle of beer. Marty concluded that there must be a shift change, and he was drinking a beer before driving home. However, when Marty arrived at the plant entrance, he noticed that people were returning from break and that it was not time for a shift change. He then realized that he had seen an employee on break drinking a beer in his pickup. Marty also realized that the pickup had been parked with the back facing the plant entrance. The man had appeared to have been looking in the rearview mirror, and it was now obvious that he had adjusted the rearview mirror toward the plant so that he could see anyone come out and approach in his direction. Marty had approached from the opposite direction and, therefore, had not been seen. they had seen. CHAPTER 15 Complaints, Grievances, and Unions 601 Marty walked back to the security hut and told the supervisor of security what he had seen. He and the security supervisor went out up to the pickup. There was no one in the pickup, but there was a partially opened the parking lot and walked case of beer on the seat. In addition, there were lots of empty beer bottles in the cargo area of the truck. The supervisor of security returned to the security hut and looked up the license plate of the truck. The owner of the pickup was Buford Collins, one of the tire builders who had worked at the plant for five years. The security supervisor then called Gina Pitts, the director of human resources . Gina came to the security hut, where Marty and the supervisor of security told her what Gina and the two men went to find Buford. The company had a strict policy against drinking on the job specifying that such a violation was grounds for termination. When they found Buford, he was working on the line where the raw tire casings were placed in the hot tire molds. His eyes were runny and his face was flushed and puffy. Gina was convinced that Buford had been drinking and concluded that he looked like someone who drank a lot on a regular basis. Buford, however, denied that he had been drinking and said his face was flushed because of the heat. He explained that he had gone to his truck to get some candy mints but that he had not had a beer. He also explained that he kept mints in his truck and that he liked to go to his truck during his breaks to listen to music and eat mints. Buford's explanation for the empty beer bottles was that he and a friend had been hunting last weekend, and they had put all of their empties in the truck. Gina told Buford to go home and that he would be on suspension until she and the plant manager decided what to do. Buford then volunteered that he would be willing take a blood alcohol test. Gina told him that it wasn't necessary but that he could do so if he wished. She sent him to the office where a secretary made arrangements for a blood alcohol test. The test was conducted approximately 1/2 hours later at a nearby hospital. The test results that came back two days later simply stated, Negative results. No alcohol detected at the .04 percent level or above." Two days later Gina and the plant manager met with Buford. They told him that he would be terminated for drinking on the job unless he agreed to go through a substance abuse program paid for by the company's employee assistance program. Buford refused. He said that he had not been drinking and would not go through such a program. The plant manager terminated Buford, and the union appealed the case to arbitration. The applicable provision of the union contract says that employees may be terminated only for just cause. Questions base 1. Do you think the discipline of Buford was fair? On what factors do you your reasoning? 2. What is your opinion of the company's investigation and disciplinary procedure? 3. How strong is the company's case against Buford? Does it have just cause for termination? 4. How do you think an arbitrator will rule in this case