# 2020-053 Careers, Counselling and probation

Case summary

F&R Date: 2021-08-30

The grievor, a Regular Force Supply Technician, was issued a counselling and probation (C&P) remedial measure (RM) for a conduct deficiency involving two transactions entered into the Defence Resource Management Information System (DRMIS) during his deployment.  Neither transaction saw physical items returned, thereby creating a discrepancy in DRMIS. According to the grievor, the first transaction was entered into the system to train other members of the deployment and was done with the authorization of his Chain of Command. He accepted full responsibility for the second transaction.  

The Initial Authority (IA) found that the grievor should have known he was committing fraudulent actions by completing the transactions in question. According to the IA, in the past, the grievor had been associated with theft and engaged in conduct that led to Military Police (MP) investigations as well as prior C&P. The IA, finding that the severity of the RM was at the discretion of the grievor's Commanding Officer, denied redress.

The Committee took issue with the implication that the grievor had a history of theft simply due to the investigations conducted by the MP. The Committee found that the MP investigations and the grievor's prior C&P were not substantially related to the events of the disputed C&P. The Committee found that, even if done for training purposes, the grievor was responsible for ensuring that proper accounting of material occurred as a basic duty of his occupation. Consequently, his actions conformed to a performance deficiency. The Committee found that a C&P was too severe of a RM for a first demonstration of a performance deficiency and recommended the C&P be replaced with a recorded warning (RW) for a performance deficiency.

FA decision summary

The Director Canadian Forces Grievance Authority, the Final Authority (FA), agreed with the Committee's recommendation to partially grant the grievance by quashing the C&P and replacing it with a RW. The FA found that the grievor's deficiencies were performance-related since there was no evidence that he attempted to benefit personally from the flawed transactions. The FA agreed that a C&P was too severe and directed that it be replaced by a RW.