The nurse suspended for eating toast in Longueuil is far from an isolated case, says a union. At the CISSS de la Montérégie-Est, a beneficiary attendant was suspended for five days during the pandemic for eating a slice of pizza that was going to be thrown away. Other suspensions would have been authorized for having “intended to take a juice”, having drunk a chocolate milk or having eaten fries.
In recent years, beneficiary attendants at the CISSS de la Montérégie-Est have been punished similarly to that of the Longueuil nurse, argues Daniel Laroche, president of the STT-CISSS Montérégie-Centre-CSN, who asks the employer to review past penalties as it did in the most recent case.
One of them was suspended for a month, because she “intended to take a juice”, he says. Another got a month’s suspension for drinking chocolate milk. A week’s suspension was given to an employee who ate a few fries, he said.
For Mr. Laroche, these sanctions are not necessary. “In a context where Minister Dubé wants the health network to become an employer of choice, I do not think that it is with disciplinary measures up to a month’s suspension that we will encourage people to come into the network,” says Mr. Laroche.
The message that it sends is that at the slightest deviation, the employer will sanction.
Daniel Laroche, president of the STT-CISSS Montérégie-Centre-CSN
Friday, The Journal of Montreal reported that a nurse at the CHSLD Chevalier-De Lévis, in Longueuil, had been suspended without pay for three days for having eaten a peanut butter toast intended for residents. After pressure from Quebec, the nurse was able to return to her duties on Monday and the CISSS apologized to the employee.
Suspended for a pizza
On May 25, 2021, a beneficiary attendant at the CHSLD Monseigneur-Coderre, in Longueuil, noticed that a resident was absent. She knows her meal will be thrown away. She eats a slice of pizza, before bringing the tray back to the kitchen.
It is out of the question to waste this meal which has not been touched, she reasons. “It’s absolutely scandalous, all the food that is thrown away at the CHSLD,” confided to The Press the attendant, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals.
In the days that followed, she was summoned by the management of the CISSS de la Montérégie-Est by videoconference. In shock, she denies eating the pizza.
I certainly defended myself badly, because I was on the defensive and rather stunned by the treatment I was subjected to.
The employee who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals
She believes that it was one of her colleagues, who saw her eating the pizza, who reported her. When she sees her in the days that follow, the attendant tells her that she is “the food police”. She is again met by management.
A month and a half later, she received a letter stating that she had received a five-day suspension without pay. His actions constitute “a serious breach” of his obligations “of loyalty and honesty”, we can read in the suspension letter that The Press has obtained.
“The fact of consuming food being intended [aux usagers] and making comments about your co-workers is inappropriate, negatively affects the work climate, and in no way reflects the expectations of the organization,” reads the suspension letter.
According to the CISSS de la Montérégie-Est, this case is “very different” from the suspension of the nurse in Longueuil, “as much in the facts as in the process that was observed to come to the disciplinary measure”.
In the letter, the employee is also accused of preparing “coffee and toast on the unit while these are foods belonging to the employer intended for the users of our services”.
“I do a lot of activities with the residents in the afternoon, like reading or singing, and I serve them coffee,” she explains. He happens to use one too.
According to the president of the union, it is common for “meals to be thrown away in monumental quantities”. “I was never specifically informed by the employer that if the food goes in the garbage, you don’t have the right to eat it”, adds the one who was a food service attendant and cook in the network of health a few years ago.
On Tuesday, the union asked the CISSS that files similar to those of the nurse suspended for eating toast be reviewed. “We want the employer to treat all employees fairly and equitably,” he says. For her part, the CISSS public relations officer, Caroline Doucet, indicated that “the necessary corrective measures” will be taken so that a situation like that of the nurse does not happen again.