By ManicMedic
Good day,
I would like to make you aware of a situation that is occurring in the Town of Whitby, for which I have exhausted all other avenues in an attempt to resolve the issue. If I cannot obtain your support on the issue, I would at least like to bring this to your attention as the entire situation has been seen as quite disconcerting to some. I am simply attempting to make you aware, and possibly request your support with this matter.
I have been employed as a Medical Technician in the Canadian Forces Reserves since 2002. That entails training once a week on Thursday nights and some weekends for exercises or refresher first aid courses etc.
I began working with Running Room in June 2010 as Store Manager. They were aware of my commitment to the CF.
Recently I had some issues with attendance at CF training due to commitments at Running Room. Because of those, I was given a conditional offer of remaining with the CF as long as I attending mandatory refresher training on February 4-6 (Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday).
I brought this forward to my area manager at Running Room. My regular day off is Friday and I was required to work on Saturday. I was not looking to work less than 40 hours that week, I was simply asking to move the Saturday shift to Friday to accommodate training that would determine my continued involvement in the CF.
My request was turned down by the area manager. I wrote an email to John Stanton as his email address is available on www.runningroom.com. I stated my disappoint with the resistance I faced from a company that supposedly ’supports our troops’. I suggested I may go to my CF superiors and advise them that Running Room is not supportive in that it is not accommodating of mandatory training.
I received an email yesterday from Running Room head office saying they were going to terminate my employment partly because of this, but in large part due to performance issues. I would like to make you aware that I had yet to receive a second or third written or verbal warning regarding performance issues. And the issues were not mine, they were sales which are low all across the company. Anyway, I suppose they took the current situation as an opportunity to let me go based on that.
I’ve now also been informed that it’s for the best if I don’t even go into the Running Room in my own town, even if I attend sessions with my family . My question is…..Can they legally do this? I’ve given them no grounds to ban me….I mean I haven’t threatened anything. I’m not a criminal. And if I go in and don’t do anything, are they legally allowed to throw me out? All I’m asking for is to go back to the way things were before I got the job. Running Room was a big part of that, how I relieved stress. Again, I’m not a criminal, I just want to attend session and clinics with my family. They have given me no other reason for this except that I voiced my concern over not being granted time off for military training.
Thank you for your support and I welcome your comments and advice!
christine says...
i would contact an employment lawyer. most will give you an initial consultation free of charge.
jona says...
manic medic,
I sorry to hear your having issues with your employment with the Running Room. But before I go into that I would like to thank you for your service to our country.
Its unfortunate that they have gone this route but I believe they have every right to ban you from their premises and running groups. Its considered private property and they can ban who every they like. Its not uncommon when an employee is terminated that they also include a “ban” of the premises. This ensures that you don’t have contact with remaining employees and potential customers.
As for the termination, they are well within their rights to terminate your employment. Its a shame that they have done this for the reasons that you state and they aren’t required to give verbal or written warnings unless they are part of a company policy or written into a employment contract.
I’m sorry that I cant say that you have a case against them but you really don’t and it would be a waste of money to pursue it with a lawyer.
But I may be able to help you with your running clinics.
There is a fairly new running store on Church St in Ajax just below hwy2. Running Free. The offer free running sessions, I believe 3 times a week. Depending on where you live in Whitby these might work out for you. And really do you want to continue going to running room after they have treated you this way?
Jona
Jack says...
I would like to firstly thank you for your services. I would suggest that you bring this issue to the attention of your local MPP and media, the member of the CF deserve more respect. They might have been legally entitled to terminate employment without notices or ban you but…morally its not right and people who goes there should know about company’s moral obligation to its employee, customer and the country..Good luck and let us know what comes out of it!
Hmmm says...
I’m sorry to hear that. I think your best bet would be to contact the labour board and take the issue of termination up with them. It’s unfortunate that they could not accommodate your request for the day off to complete your training. I also think Jack makes a great point of contacting your local MPP or media.
Just Saying says...
As others have mentioned, you need to speak to a lawyer. Good luck.
ManicMedic says...
Thank you everyone for your kind words and appreciation for the services that the CF provides. I can tell you that I truly enjoy enjoy what I do with them and I hope to continue doing it as long as I can.
Despite the private property and right to terminate issues, I still feel I should pursue this. If for no other reason except that it is such a ridiculous situation to have happened, especially because of 1 day!
I am putting a claim through with Employment Standards regarding reservist leave. I have spoken with some town councilors and my MPP. I am also going to meet with a lawyer tomorrow regarding the unfair banning from all stores. As some of you have pointed out, to do this to a currently serving reservist, seems not quite fair and so I have to continue to fight.
Thank you all and I’ll keep you posted!
Martin says...
I have a son in the reserves as a medic fortunately for him he works for an employer that actually supports our troops. Boycott the Running Room!
Cheryl888 says...
This sounds like a legal issue, and if I were you I would ask for this post to be deleted, so once/if you speak to a lawyer (which you should), this wont become a liability for you. If this is how you state, it is a violation of your rights as an employee, and should be compensated as such
glowworm2k says...
I’m so sorry to hear you were treated like this. In these situations, I find it incredibly ignorant and unfair of the employer to deny a reasonable request. Frankly, instead of being conscientious and proactive in trying to re-book your shift, you could have just called in sick and left them short staffed at the last minute for the shift - you didn’t do this, instead opting for the honourable route, and it turned out very badly indeed. I’m always angry to hear when employees who act in a positive manner are penalized for it.
(The same thing happened to me as a young (under 18) employee at Canadian Tire - the day off that was requested 2 weeks in advance - a Wednesday afternoon, not peak “busy time” - wasn’t accommodated based on their “operational demands.” I ended up booking off sick that day and quitting the job soon after.)
Sutton says...
whenever the Running Room hears about something that makes them a wee bit uncomfortable they go for “termination”. Fight it. But more importantly go for publicity - BAD publicity for them. Good luck and BAN the Running Room. Support the smaller stores who really care about their runners and treat their employees well. Every Running Room pays minimum wage so imagine how their friendly staff must feel!!
Ban the Running Room!! They are rich enough now.
ManicMedic says...
I just wanted to thank you all again for your support. I have forward this up to my MPP and am thinking of contacting the media, any way I can. Sure, I had to get defensive and send a nasty email….but the fact still remains, that they denied me military leave in the first place and backed me into the corner that I had to fight my way out of. And when I questioned them on it and questioned my rights, they terminated me. Wouldn’t mind chatting more with Martin or Sutton….get a back story on your support….we can vent more
Thanks again everyone!
jayne_a says...
ManicMedic,
Do you have any info on what’s happening? Just wondering if things worked out and was going on with the whole situation, keep us posted. ok
ManicMedic says...
So the Canadian Forces Liaison Council (a branch that assists members with getting time off from employment for taskings, courses etc) contacted Head Office in Alberta with no success. According to Running Room the matter is closed. However, I am continuing with the Employment Standards Act Claim of course and am waiting any news from that.
I would also value any support anyone can provide, perhaps through a Better Business Bureau Complaint with regards to how Running Room treats reservists or employees in general. Should you be so kind as to support me, the complaint should be made about Running Room in Edmonton Alberta (head office).
I want to assure you that I am completely honest in my ‘telling’ of the story and everyone I speak with feels that despite what I may have said, I was still treated unfairly. My hope is still that you can all see that in having my time off request denied, I was put into a bad situation. There is no reason why that request should have been denied, given what it was for.
Thank you and I’ll keep you posted.
Uttermost says...
I was looking forward to joining the Reserves but it appears to me that I was slightly misinformed; I didn’t realize that there is such thing as mandatory training. I will keep my job instead, thanks.
Keep up the good fight!
UMS.
JackieR says...
Everyone has to also look at the perspective of the Running Room. You’re asking for a day off (or shifting around the schedule) at the last minute. You should consider the Reserves just like another job. What if you owned a business and an employee wanted to switch shifts for other employment at the last minute…tough to accomodate. You knew what commitment was required of you before you signed up for the Reserves and should consider that in the future, after all you are being compensated from the Resreves also. With that said though, it’s definately not something someone should be terminated for, if that’s just one isolated situation.
Peter says...
Okay Manic, so you knew you had to attend MANDATORY training Thursday nights and some weekends, yet you still agreed to work at the RR during that time? Even if you were given that Saturday off, you still couldn’t make the training sessions. You got yourself into this predicament. Instead of being reasonable and talking to your management team BEFORE the Forces wanted you to reinforce your committment, you escalated the situation. How do you expect RR to act, when you, without so many words accuse them of being unpatriotic? Ever think of maybe, when you sent that email off you should have tried to ask to have Thursdays off instead of Friday, that you might still have a job? They fired you because they think you’re a trouble maker and that’s what it sounds like to me. That last post had it right, you are being paid from the Forces still and are required to attend training. It’s up to you to find a happy medium, not RR. Stop blaming other people, I’m sure other people from the Forces can make it work, why do you think you are so different?????
ManicMedic says...
I started with the Running Room and we were both clear that I still had a comittment to the CF. When I started this full-time employment with Running Room they stated that they would allow me time off to attend training as it came up so long as I gave them plenty of notice.
I want you to know that I gave them 8 weeks notice of this 1 particular Saturday. That’s 8 weeks while I was missing other CF training for Running Room work and vice versa. I spoke to them in December and was given the okay to take this 1 day off.
I’m not really sure where your comment comes from as it seems completely unfounded. They went against their word to me and in essence to the CF (in allowing me time off)….something they promised me in June.
I think I had every right to address this issue, not only because they were backing out of their promise, but because they went against the Employment Standards Act. This was training to prepare for possible deployment. I have the right to attend that training, especially since I gave them notice of time off in June when I started.
Any other points you’d like to bring up?
Sutton says...
Sounds like Peter is a RR employee or mole. Don’t worry about those comments. RR is trying to establish themselves as the Goliath in their industry and is turning into a giant bully along the way.
Joe Schmoe says...
You say you did not threaten the company, but you clearly stated : “I suggested I may go to my CF superiors and advise them that Running Room is not supportive in that it is not accommodating of mandatory training.”
Regardless of the ’support’, I highly doubt the only factor was the ‘day’ you wanted off to training purposes. Your story seems a bit fishy. But good luck anyway
sk says...
My mother in-law used to work at this location. They treat their employee`s like pure garbage.
To anyone who feels that manic may have deserved this sort of treatment from The Running Room, I can assure you that this location of The Running Room has a long history of treating it`s employee`s VERY badly.
Christiana says...
Great arcltie, thank you again for writing.