The longtime bartender and sergeant-at-arms of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Lynn Valley branch was awarded $32,000 after being unfairly fired earlier this year, according to an arbitrator’s report.
Jamie McLaughlin poured pints at the branch for 28 years before being abruptly terminated in February when B.C./Yukon Command – which oversees the branch – shut down the legion, citing, in part, “financial irregularity.”
The legion’s Branch 114 on Lynn Valley Road remains closed. The dispute went to the Labour Relations Board for arbitration when McLaughlin’s union and the legion couldn’t resolve the grievance.
“I don’t think it was fair that my name has been turned to crap,” McLaughlin said. “Command stated they came in for ‘financial (irregularity)’ and then fired me, so everybody took it that I was taking money. … For my wife and my daughter, people need to know that I’m not a thief.”
McLaughlin was fired for eight distinct reasons, ranging from dress code violations to improper cash handling to failing to maintain cleanliness behind the bar. Each reason was refuted in a report penned by arbitrator James E. Dorsey, who concluded there was “no just and reasonable cause for discipline.”
An allegation McLaughlin requested more vacation pay than he was entitled to was untrue, according to Dorsey.
B.C./Yukon Command suggested McLaughlin’s football pool – which he ran for 25 years – may have run afoul of gaming regulations. However, the pool was “authorized and promoted” by the legion’s executive committee, according to Dorsey.
While a Vancouver Coastal Health officer did uncover grease, mould, and signs of a rodent infestation, none of those violations were attributable to McLaughlin, who hadn’t worked at the legion for nine days prior to the closure.
While the state of the bar “repulsed” B.C./Yukon Command, their handling of the issue “virtually ensured extended closure and a public blemish on the Branch’s reputation,” Dorsey wrote.
Dorsey also noted that the closure came just four months after the branch essentially received a “clean bill of health.” There was also “no information any member or guest complained” about McLaughlin’s cleanliness, according to the arbitrator.
Accusations McLaughlin violated the legion’s dress code were also groundless, according to Dorsey.
McLaughlin had one infraction involving swearing at a guest in March 2015. McLaughlin subsequently wrote a letter of apology.
The legion was “a hub of internal dissent and disagreement among members” in 2015, according to Dorsey.
While a wrongfully terminated employee is usually given his old job, the “undercurrents in this complex employment and membership relationship,” as well as the prolonged closure of the branch, persuaded Dorsey against reinstatement.
“Both Mr. McLaughlin and the Branch will have a greater chance at success in the community if the Branch reopens with new management,” he wrote.
At the time of his termination, McLaughlin was chairman of Branch 114’s entertainment, sports and Christmas hamper committees. “I worked extra hours every day to make sure that place could stay afloat,” he said.
Former branch president Bill Calder supported McLaughlin’s story, describing him as an exemplary worker who volunteered with local cadets and appeared at schools for Remembrance Day ceremonies. “He did a lot outside his regular bartender requirements.”
The shutdown of the legion is frustrating, according to Calder. “There is no justification, whatsoever, for keeping that branch down for this period of time – even if you subscribe to the issue that there were health concerns.”
Calder said he received no entreaties for information on the branch’s finances. North Vancouver RCMP reported no request for a criminal investigation.
The closure is a loss to seniors in the community who frequented the legion for cribbage and camaraderie, according to Calder. “Once they closed it, that was gone.”
Branch 114 also hosted three annual lunches for hospitalized veterans, according to Calder. “We recognize the value of the members and now we’ve lost them.”
Due to its philanthropic work, the branch enjoyed tax exempt status in the District of North Vancouver.
Calder estimated the branch’s various cash and in-kind contributions totalled more than $100,000 annually.
But while donations were steady, revenues dipped in 2015, according to Calder.
The branch had an operating loss of $12,625 in 2015, according to an unaudited financial statement. Annual losses from 2012 to 2014 ranged from $1,311 to $15,064.
No date has been set for the branch’s reopening, according to the arbitrator’s report.
The legion hall, which has occupied the same site since 1951, has an assessed value of $2.3 million. About $2.2 million of that value is in the land, according to the arbitrator’s report.
The branch’s future is slated for discussion at a members-only meeting tonight.
B.C./Yukon Command was unable to supply a comment for this article.
