At the time of her dismissal, Sue McIntyre maintained that she was interested in protecting the safety of all hospital workers.
According to CUPE, an Ontario arbitrator has ruled that McIntyre, the North Bay Regional Health Centre nurse fired by the hospital more than two years ago after she spoke about workplace violence at a nursing conference, should get her job back.
In his decision, arbitrator Bram Herlich says that he found McIntyre had “no plan or intention to initiate a media campaign to sully the hospital’s reputation” and that she should be “reinstated to her employment without loss of benefits or seniority and with full compensation.”
CUPE says that the McIntyre case shines on a light on the issues of free speech and the need for protections for whistle-blowers, adding that there is a climate of fear in the profession when it comes to reporting workplace violence.