Montreal Quebec - A war of words has broken out over a fired cocaine-using locomotive engineer.
 
Canadian Pacific chief executive Hunter Harrison lashed out when CP was ordered this month to reinstate the engineer even though an arbitrator confirmed the employee had "consumed cocaine at a time and of a quantity which could impact his work performance."
 
Harrison said:  "On my watch, this individual will not operate a locomotive."
 
The engineer's union, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, called Harrison's comments an "unjustified and unprecedented" personal attack, arguing the worker deserved a second chance.
 
The case made headlines, but a Gazette review of Canadian Railway Office of Arbitration (CROA) decisions shows it regularly deals with cocaine cases.
 
From a 2011 CROA decision involving a CP employee:
 
"To put it simply, he was passed out drunk for the better part of his tour on duty, following which he was alcohol and drug tested, and returned a test positive for cocaine." The arbitrator also noted the worker "engaged in binge drinking during the afternoon prior to the commencement of his tour of duty at 01:30."
 
Montreal-based CROA, jointly administered by CP, Canadian National, and rail unions, helps resolve disputes between management and workers.
 
In their rulings, arbitrators often cite the Canadian Human Rights Act, which defines a disability as "any previous or existing mental or physical disability and includes disfigurement and previous or existing dependence on alcohol or a drug."
 
As one CROA decision noted:  "As with any disability, drug addiction triggers an obligation of reasonable accommodation on the part of an employer and a union, to the point of undue hardship."
 
Here's a look at five cases that involved cocaine.
 
The details are from CROA decisions and may not reflect the final outcome, as decisions can be appealed in court:

CP Engineer Made Headlines

Background:  In December 2012, a CP employee was operating a train as its locomotive engineer. The train was involved in a manoeuvre that resulted in a locomotive being derailed in a Cote St-Luc rail yard. The engineer was directed to submit to a substance test that found he had used cocaine within 24 hours of his being available for duty. CP fired the employee.
 
Dispute:  The union argued the discipline was excessive. It presented evidence the engineer had received treatment for cocaine dependency and had taken part in individual and group therapy between October 2013 and March 2014.
 
Ruling:  A July 2014 CROA decision noted "on the balance of probabilities, the employee did consume cocaine at a time and of a quantity which could impact his work performance." But rather than fire the engineer, CP should give him "another chance to demonstrate his ability to be a safe and productive employee in control of his drug dependence." For two years, he is to refrain from using illicit drugs and be subject to random alcohol and drug testing.
 
Bottom line:  The employee must be reinstated. CP says it will appeal the decision to Quebec Superior Court, arguing it "sets a dangerous precedent and is grossly unacceptable for the safe operation of a railway." CP says the employee is "currently not on the job."

Friend's Crack Pipe Blamed

Background:  The case involves a CN employee with a cocaine addiction who had been fired, but was reinstated in February 2012 "for compassionate reasons" after a CROA hearing. He had been found responsible for "a derailment accident involving two dangerous commodity tank cars." At the time, the man, a traffic coordinator, was told to abstain from consuming alcohol or illegal drugs, he was also to be subject to random alcohol and drug testing for two years. In November 2012, he submitted to a drug test. His "hair sample was returned as positive for cocaine," according to CROA. CN fired him.
 
Dispute:  The employee argued he should be reinstated. During a hearing, he suggested "his positive test result was not by reason of his own consumption of cocaine," according to CROA. "He maintained that when he discovered that a girlfriend living with him was in possession of crack cocaine he took possession of the cocaine and the pipe used to consume it, breaking the pipe and placing it in the garbage along with the crack cocaine. He suggests he might then have absorbed some of the cocaine through contact with his eyes, mouth, or nose."
 
Ruling:  In an April 2014 decision, an arbitrator said he had "substantial difficulty with the employee's explanation." The man "was given a last chance. For reasons he best understands, he failed to take advantage of it. His positive drug test for cocaine is plainly in violation of the terms of his reinstatement to employment."
 
Bottom line:  The employee lost his job.

Police Seize Drugs in Home

Background:  In 2011, police searched the home of a veteran CP employee. They seized seven pounds of marijuana, 57 grams of cocaine, 93 codeine pills, as well as psilocybin (magic mushrooms), CROA said. He was charged with possession of cocaine and marijuana for the purposes of trafficking, as well as possession of property obtained by crime. But charges were reduced to the possession of prohibited drugs, "apparently in exchange for a guilty plea for which he was sentenced to a 12-month conditional discharge, six months' probation, an order that he supply a DNA sample, and that he be subject to a 10-year weapons prohibition." CP fired him. The man's job title was not mentioned in the ruling.
 
Dispute:  The employee's union argued firing was too severe for several reasons, including the fact he had never been disciplined in his 27 years at CP for a drug or alcohol offence, was found not guilty of drug trafficking, and had an admitted drug dependency. The union also suggested CP had "failed its duty to accommodate this disabled worker."
 
Ruling:  In a February 2014 decision, an arbitrator noted CROA has "an open and compassionate approach to the cases of employees who may have a drug problem, and/or are found in possession of small quantities of drugs intended for their personal use." But in this case, the employee "crossed a line by moving beyond the mere possession or use of drugs into what I am satisfied was substantial involvement in drug trafficking."
 
Bottom line:  The employee lost his job.

Second Chance Ends Quickly

Background:  CN fired a locomotive engineer after a positive test for cocaine in July 2012. It was the second time CN had fired him for cocaine use. In a June 2012 ruling, a CROA arbitrator overturned the first firing. As part of that ruling, the man was to refrain from using illegal drugs and was to submit to drug tests. Only six weeks after that decision, during a reinstatement medical assessment, a drug test was administered. "His hair sample was ultimately confirmed as being positive for cocaine," CROA said.
 
Dispute:  The union said CN's decision to fire him was excessive and unwarranted because the engineer "is disabled and requires accommodation." It demanded he be reinstated. "The employee suggested there must have been a positive reading by reason of chemical reaction resulting from a renal biopsy which he had recently undergone," CROA said.
 
Ruling:  In a July 2013 decision, an arbitrator found the man failed to honour the conditions under which he was reinstated. "At a minimum, that positive test is clearly inconsistent with the employee's own account that he had not consumed cocaine since December of 2011."
 
Bottom line:  The employee lost his job.

Collision Led to Drug Test

Background:  A CN conductor underwent drug and alcohol testing after his train was involved in a collision with a patrol foreman's vehicle. The test showed he had consumed cocaine about 48 hours before the incident, which "violated his obligation not to be under the effects of a prohibited narcotic while we was subject to duty." CN dismissed him.
 
Dispute:  The man's union asked the arbitrator to overturn the dismissal in part because though he admitted to cocaine use, he did not do so while on duty.
 
Ruling:  In an October 2011 decision, an arbitrator said he was satisfied the man had "successfully controlled his cocaine addiction," having completed a six-week detox program and attended Narcotics Anonymous meetings. After 31 years of "exemplary service," it was not appropriate for CN to fire the man, the arbitrator ruled. The man should be reinstated, without compensation for lost wages. He was ordered to abstain from using illicit drugs, told he would be subject to random drug and alcohol testing, and ordered to regularly attend meetings of a support group such as Narcotics Anonymous.
 
Bottom line:  The employee kept his job.

Andy Riga.