Dark Side Case: The Derailment - A Role-Playing Case of On- and Off- Duty Conduct(or)

Abstract

Stephanie Katelnikoff was conductor of a CP Rail freight train loaded with lentils and fly ash when it derailed. Less than one month later, she was terminated for breach of policy on reporting injuries related to the derailment and for talking to a reporter about the derailment. She was reinstated with back pay by an arbitrator only to be terminated again less than two years later. Her employer argued the dismissal was based on comments made about CP and photos on company property, both posted to social media. The case – which is disguised – and associated notes consider employment relations, human resource management, and gender issues in managing performance, misconduct, and discipline in a male-dominated workplace. The case can be used as a problem and decision-oriented role-playing exercise, a pair of linked decisions in which students must defend what they would do: dismiss, discipline, or nothing at all. The case can also be used to examine issues such as discrimination and gender from an evaluative perspective. It examines the workplace critically, as a site of inequality and gender discrimination, as well as of oppression and harassment. Students should find this case challenging in that making decisions and recommendations require them to balance the employer’s prerogative to determine the composition of its workforce with the creation of gender-inclusive workplaces and worker rights. This case is suitable for undergraduate, graduate, and executive education in employment relations, human resource management, business ethics, gender and diversity studies, and organizational behaviour.