Courthouse in Saskatoon where Jim Fetch had his case heard. (File Photo/CKOM News)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Court Decision

Meadow Lake pulp mill ordered to pay over $100K for wrongful firing

Nov 21, 2023 | 3:00 PM

A Meadow Lake company will have to pay a former employee over $100,000 for wrongful dismissal.

That’s coming from the Court of King’s Bench which agreed with Jim Ketch that Meadow Lake Mechanical Pulp Inc. (MLM) fired him without proper cause back in 2016.

This all stems from a relationship he had with a co-worker’s 21-year-old daughter. She also had a brother employed by MLM and was a former summer student who worked alongside Ketch.

MLM claimed he never disclosed the relationship and caused a rift in the workplace. The boiling point happened in April 2016 when the woman’s father, mother, and two brothers walked into the house uninvited she and Ketch were living in, starting an altercation. The judge overseeing the case said the incident would best be described as a ‘beating’ for Ketch.

MLM started its own investigation and when they interviewed Ketch the focus wasn’t on the altercation but rather his conduct at work. This included times he and his girlfriend, who were not dating at the time, would spend together.

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In the end, Ketch was fired, the father was given a five-day suspension, and the son was not punished as he was no longer working for the company.

MLM also highlighted other reasons for Ketch being let go including troubling conduct during the interview and spending time with his girlfriend instead of working.

The judge argued against each claim.

They explained most people would be irritated during a meeting if human resources decided to focus on them and not the people who had attacked him.

“For him, it would have been as if he had somehow taken the wrong off-ramp into a Franz Kafka short story,” the judge said in a written decision.

They also claimed that testimony by employees explaining that the two would be gone for hours seemed rehearsed. While the judge did agree that it was inappropriate at times for the pair to be gone for as long as they were, they added that Ketch was always available as he carried a radio.

“It is also worthwhile mentioning that there is no suggestion that MLM suffered any loss of production or cost as a result of the extended breaks,” the judge wrote.

After hearing from both sides, the judge decided to grant Ketch around $117,000 which included travel costs for his move to Moose Jaw for his new job.

Meanwhile, Ketch and his girlfriend are now married and have four kids. It was revealed that tensions have eased between Ketch and his wife’s family.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow