She testified that the dealer 'leaned into her table with a smirk and said … that 'your country was colonized 300 years ago, are you still going to persecute everyone?'' Ponak's decision said. When she told the man she didn't like John Wayne movies because of the racist depictions of Indigenous people, the arbitrator said he 'doubled down' and told her to 'get over it.' He heard testimony from a casino employee, who is an Indigenous woman, who testified that in August of 2018, the dealer told her to watch John Wayne Western movies, which portray harmful stereotypes and tropes of Indigenous people.

Ponak delivered his decision following a January arbitration hearing - originally scheduled for March 2020, but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ' does not defend racist language or behaviour or harassing conduct in any circumstance including this one and categorically condemned the griever's behaviour.'īut in a decision delivered late last month, Allen Ponak, the case's arbitrator, found that the incidents, when considered with the man's employment file, showed a pattern of harassment that justified his firing, and dismissed his grievance. 'The fact that the man expressed remorse and wanted to learn from his mistake was a significant factor in participating in the arbitration,' the union statement said. In an emailed statement, the union said it was obligated to represent all of its members even when their behaviour warranted discipline. The Public Service Alliance of Canada - the union representing the man - argued he displayed remorse and was willing to take corrective actions to remedy the situations. The man grieved his firing, and asked to be reinstated. The man, who had worked at the SaskGaming casino for over 10 years as a dealer and an acting supervisor, was fired in 2018 after two different harassment allegations, both involving allegations of racist comments or behaviour. A Casino Regina employee who was fired for harassing his colleagues with comments deemed insensitive and 'arguably racist' will not get his job back at the Crown corporation owned and operated casino, an arbitrator has ruled.

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