Friday, August 27, 2021

Terminated for Speaking Up

After being a volunteer firefighter and captain for the last 12 years and demonstrating a stellar incident response record, Local 920 member Marc Morin will now have his future with the service decided by an arbitrator

In March 2021, a reporter for the Sudbury Star contacted Marc Morin, Local 920 Sudbury chief steward, in regard to a story she was writing about a motor vehicle collision that occurred in 2017, which tragically left a family without a loved one. The reporter was focussed on the units dispatched by the fire service and specifically asked about a nearby station that was not sent—even though they had the equipment to perform the required work. Marc, speaking on behalf of the volunteers in Greater Sudbury, shared those very same concerns.

Dispatching in Greater Sudbury has been a topic of discussion between the local and the city for a number of years. Marc was quoted in the Sudbury Star saying, “I don’t know why that station wouldn’t be included as part of the dispatch protocol right from the outset of the incident.”

But the city does not see the issue in this incident. Rather than acknowledging that they could have done better, they terminated Marc for having “made these comments knowing that they were false and your recklessness in this regard has damaged the reputation of the organization and caused harm to the family impacted by this incident.”

After being a volunteer firefighter and captain for the last 12 years and demonstrating a stellar incident response record, Marc will now have his future with the service decided by an arbitrator. Dates for the hearing are being held in October and November.

“The city was clearly upset with the story being made public,” says Marc. “I didn’t initiate the interview and I spoke factually. However, rather than vilify me, I would have preferred to see the city take ownership of what happened and re-assure the citizens that steps have been or will be taken to ensure that dispatching is done in the most expeditious manner with the closest resources available.”

Terminated for Speaking Up

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