FILE PHOTO
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/UPS
July 31, 2021 - 6:00 PM
A former Kelowna UPS driver will not be getting his job back after being fired twice, once for getting into a fight with a customer and the second time for sending a text with the caption “F*** UPS.”
Brian Trackl has been a driver with the delivery service for 12 years, according to arbitration documents.
On May 25, 2020 he was fired after getting into a fight with a female customer at a local Pharmasave. The pair had a disagreement about whether Trackl had to accept and take the packages the customer wanted to return.
In the altercation, the woman took steps towards Trackl and his truck and he pushed her away, causing her to stumble, according to the documents. She then attempted to punch him, and then he proceeded to “punch her in the face, with some force.”
The 39-year-old grabbed her by the arms, they exchanged words and she went back into the store and he left. The woman was slight, shorter in height and roughly 20 years older than him, according to the documents. The interaction was caught on a security camera.
Trackl was fired from UPS May 25, 2020 and his union submitted there was no cause for termination and he should be reinstated.
During a grievance meeting June 16, UPS rehired Trackl, believing he was remorseful and agreed to reinstate him in exchange for a one-month suspension.
“Unbeknownst to the employer, the previous evening (June 15, 2020), the Grievor sent a text message to a former UPS employee that included a photo of the Grievor wearing a competitor’s uniform, with the caption “F*** UPS”
Trackl was fired again June 17 for “dishonesty,” according to UPS.
In cross-examination, Trackl acknowledged that, in the year since his termination, he had not attempted to contact UPS to apologize for the text and that he wanted his job back partly because “it’s probably the best job you can get out here with only a high school education.”
The incident was again contested by the union but the arbitrator sided with UPS.
The delivery company said Trackl has also failed to follow UPS policy and was suspended twice prior to when he was fired for the first time.
“In all the circumstances, I am persuaded that a viable employment relationship based on honesty and trust is no longer possible, and that discharge was not an excessive response,” wrote Koml Kandola, arbitrator, in his decision.
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