Here's the sad story of a needless Montreal office conflict that led to much heartbreak and expense.
Jason Perkins and Jason Yee worked for a company called PC Mall. One day in 2011 Yee told staffers that they'd be doing phone sales blitzes for the morning.
Part of the rules of the blitz is that salesmen weren't allowed to field calls from regular clients during the phone blitz but Perkins took a phone call and Yee noticed and didn't approve.
Perkins had been making about $85,000 at the company, including commissions. He had a fine record of seven years service, with no record of bad behaviour, as others attested in court.
Perkins didn't much like that Yee frogmarched him into the boss' office whereupon he was suspended with pay for what might seem like a minor transgression.
Perkins punched a computer in frustration and kicked his desk, but nothing was broken. But the company claimed that it was an example of violence in the workplace and fired him.
Perkins sued PCMall for $80,000 for firing on false grounds. The judge was thoughtful and sympathetic to Perkins.
The judge noted that Yee seemed evasive and couldn't answer questions in a straight manner, instead he'd repeat the question and think about it, not something the judge liked to see.
A PC Mall employee mentioned in court that another employee had shown a lot more aggression and was never fired.
Perkins, a tall black man (not that that matters, but might inform the imagery of the story, ie: black people don't always get fair treatment), won $29,000 but ended up in a job that paid about half as much pay, not great considering that he recently became a father and now has a family to support.
Jason Perkins and Jason Yee worked for a company called PC Mall. One day in 2011 Yee told staffers that they'd be doing phone sales blitzes for the morning.
Part of the rules of the blitz is that salesmen weren't allowed to field calls from regular clients during the phone blitz but Perkins took a phone call and Yee noticed and didn't approve.
Perkins had been making about $85,000 at the company, including commissions. He had a fine record of seven years service, with no record of bad behaviour, as others attested in court.
Perkins didn't much like that Yee frogmarched him into the boss' office whereupon he was suspended with pay for what might seem like a minor transgression.
Perkins punched a computer in frustration and kicked his desk, but nothing was broken. But the company claimed that it was an example of violence in the workplace and fired him.
Perkins sued PCMall for $80,000 for firing on false grounds. The judge was thoughtful and sympathetic to Perkins.
The judge noted that Yee seemed evasive and couldn't answer questions in a straight manner, instead he'd repeat the question and think about it, not something the judge liked to see.
A PC Mall employee mentioned in court that another employee had shown a lot more aggression and was never fired.
Perkins, a tall black man (not that that matters, but might inform the imagery of the story, ie: black people don't always get fair treatment), won $29,000 but ended up in a job that paid about half as much pay, not great considering that he recently became a father and now has a family to support.