In 2001, Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) discovered that 90 employees were surfing porn sites on work computers and often e-mailing the contents to others. At least one porn-filled e-mail was sent from an Ontario government e-mail account to employees at Chrylser Corp. The Chrysler folks complained and the MNR began an investigation.
As a result of that investigation, more than 60 MNR workers were disciplined, with punishment ranging from a letter of reprimand to dismissal.
The six who were dismissed, though, convinced their union, the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union (OPSEU), to take up their cause and grieve their firing.
This week, the employees won when a provincial arbitrator ordered the six — all men — to be re-hired. They are back on the job this week.
The provincial arbitrator did not release the reasons behind his decision, saying they would come later along with his thoughts about back pay and alternative punishment.
I did a piece on this for last night's CTV National News but my Globe and Mail colleague Christie Blatchford led the way on this story, breaking it in yesterday's paper.
This is not a surprise at all. It is really a shame that our tax money goes towards these totally unproductive government workers.