Senior manager in London, Ont. on stress leave after practical joke went awry
City staff in London, Ont., won’t be pulling any more pranks in the workplace.
That’s because the city has banned practical jokes by employees, according to the London Free Press.
“These were revisions brought forward by the city manager himself and are not actually recommendations that require council approval,” said London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco.
DeCicco told the Free Press the revisions were not a response to an incident that led to a senior manager going on stress leave. Glen Howlett, an employee with 30 years of service, has been on stress leave from his $155,000-a-year job since November 2003 after a prank by top-level city managers backfired.
John Judson, Howlett’s lawyer, said Howlett suffered heart palpitations after getting a dummy resolution on Nov. 3 while vacationing with his wife in Alberta. The falsified document said he had two weeks to complete a major report, and it appeared genuine because it had been certified by the city clerk’s office.
The revisions include:
•addition of the word “respectful” to how employees interact with one another;
•an addition to examples of prohibited behaviour to include behaviour that “ridicules, including comments, gestures and practical jokes that may be offensive, damaging to workplace relationships or adversely affect the ability of an employee to perform his/her duties”;
•an addition under the abuse of authority clause to include “improperly influencing” a subordinate;
•addition to prohibited behaviour of “falsification of records or documents and unauthorized manipulation or alteration of records or documents for other than a legitimate business purpose.”
That’s because the city has banned practical jokes by employees, according to the London Free Press.
“These were revisions brought forward by the city manager himself and are not actually recommendations that require council approval,” said London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco.
DeCicco told the Free Press the revisions were not a response to an incident that led to a senior manager going on stress leave. Glen Howlett, an employee with 30 years of service, has been on stress leave from his $155,000-a-year job since November 2003 after a prank by top-level city managers backfired.
John Judson, Howlett’s lawyer, said Howlett suffered heart palpitations after getting a dummy resolution on Nov. 3 while vacationing with his wife in Alberta. The falsified document said he had two weeks to complete a major report, and it appeared genuine because it had been certified by the city clerk’s office.
The revisions include:
•addition of the word “respectful” to how employees interact with one another;
•an addition to examples of prohibited behaviour to include behaviour that “ridicules, including comments, gestures and practical jokes that may be offensive, damaging to workplace relationships or adversely affect the ability of an employee to perform his/her duties”;
•an addition under the abuse of authority clause to include “improperly influencing” a subordinate;
•addition to prohibited behaviour of “falsification of records or documents and unauthorized manipulation or alteration of records or documents for other than a legitimate business purpose.”
