| Issue: |
Sub-Issue 1: |
Sub-Issue 2: |
Sub-Issue 3: |
| misconduct |
physical altercation |
|
|
Summary:
The claimant was dismissed from his employment following a physical altercation with a co-worker (he slapped his co-worker after she verbally insulted him). The Commission refused to pay him benefits on the ground that he had lost his employment by reason of his own misconduct. The FCA determined that the facts that the Respondent regretted his act, that he had never received a disciplinary notice before the incident, that the other party involved in the altercation had provoked him through harassment, that the employer reinstated the claimant without any admissions regarding the alleged facts, and that the claimant had acted in the heat of the moment were not relevant factors in determining whether there had been misconduct. The FCA explained that the claimant should have known that his behaviour could result in his dismissal. Furthermore, the FCA ruled that physical or verbal violence does not belong in the workplace and will not be sanctioned through entitlement to benefits.
