Woman wins wrongful termination suit against 7-Eleven -MB
WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg woman has won a wrongful termination lawsuit against 7-Eleven after her 27-year career came to an abrupt end during a corporate “sting” operation.
Beverly Salkeld was caught on two occasions selling cigarettes without asking for identification from a 24-year-old man and 19-year-old woman who were hired by the company to pose as customers. Although the so-called “mystery shoppers” were legally of age, 7-Eleven has a policy requiring their employees to ask everyone who appears under 30 for proof they are older than 18.
Salkeld, 52, was fired in December 2008 from an Academy Road store based on another company policy that says your first violation will result in a warning, the second in termination. The move came despite the fact she regularly scored high on performance reviews and was deemed a hard-working and loyal employee.
Salkeld challenged her dismissal in court, claiming she had no idea the male mystery shopper was actually younger than 30. Her lawyers even called the man to testify at trial how he’d done approximately 40 mystery shops at 7-Eleven during a two month period, with only “three or four” employees asking questions about his age. They also presented surveillance video of the purchase in question.
Queen’s Bench Justice Lori Spivak has now agreed with Salkeld’s position, saying she could have easily mistaken him for an older man and therefore wouldn’t have felt the need to ask for photo identification.
“The imposition of discipline occurred without regard to whether an employee believed the person to be over 30 and whether that assessment was reasonable,” Spivak wrote in her ruling. “7-Eleven’s decision to dismiss was made on the basis that Ms. Salkeld breached the policy on two occasions and I have found she did not.”
Salkeld didn’t dispute that she should have asked the young female customer for identification. However, she requested to see surveillance video of that purchase and was told by 7-Eleven that it had been recorded over and wasn’t available.
Kerry Swan testified on behalf of 7-Eleven and admitted their policy is “subjective” because it requires employees to make judgment calls about ages of customers – with the reality that a mistake in judging age is considered a “failure.” Swan said the policy, which was enacted in 2004, is important to ensure minors aren’t allowed to buy cigarettes and to protect 7-Eleven from possible fines or licence suspensions.
“I have difficulty accepting that the circumstances here were significantly serious to amount to a loss of trust and just cause when balanced against Ms. Salkeld’s lengthy (compliance) with the policy, the absence of an intentional refusal to follow the rules or a pattern of careless disregard and her many years of good service and devotion,” said Spivak.
Salkeld began working with 7-Eleven in 1981 and was making an annual salary with benefits of $34,467.08 at the time of her dismissal.
Salkeld applied for several other jobs but was unable to find any employment until this past January. She currently works part-time as a sales clerk earning $10 per hour, which is much less than she made at 7-Eleven.
As a result, Spivak has ordered 7-Eleven to pay her the equivalent of 14 months salary, which comes to just over $40,000 in severance.
Originally written By: Mike McIntyre
