The Tribune

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS 

Tribune Staff Reporter 

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

THE Industrial Tribunal dismissed the trade dispute of a man fired after showing up to work at Atlantis despite having a positive COVID-19 test result.

The tribunal ruled that Brock Bridgewater, a former croupier employed in the casino department at Atlantis for over 30 years, sealed his fate with his “impulsive and irrational decisions”.

Mr Bridgewater, a non-unionised employee, was employed by Paradise Enterprises Limited from January 4, 1990, until his dismissal on February 9, 2021.

In accordance with the law during the COVID-19 pandemic, he was scheduled to complete his weekly COVID-19 rapid antigen test at Doctors Hospital on January 22, 2021, before his 7pm to 3am shift.

After getting a positive rapid antigen test result, he was scheduled to take an RT-PCR test later that day and get the results via email.

When he completed his daily screener, which asked if he tested positive for the virus within the last 14 days, he answered no and went to work as scheduled.

Security guards granted him access to the hotel based on his daily screener response.

However, his supervisor, George Daley, later asked him why he reported to work despite his positive COVID-19 test earlier that day. Mr Daley ordered Mr Bridgewater to report home to self-isolate until he received his RT-PCR test results.

The results arrived the next day and confirmed he was positive for COVID-19. He was required to quarantine at home for 14 days. When he returned to work on February 5, 2021, he was suspended for four days amid an investigation. He was fired on February 9, 2021. His appeal was unsuccessful.

The tribunal acknowledged that Mr Bridgewater had no adverse reports against him during his employment at Atlantis and received several commendations, including employee of the month and employee of the year nominations.

In his witness statement, Mr Bridgewater said after testing positive for COVID- 19 with the antigen test, he anticipated getting a call from his employer on the way forward. He said the results left him feeling puzzled and anxious.

“The witness repeated that he was of the belief that the respondent would not have sent him a daily screener knowing that he had tested positive for COVID-19 that day. It was the applicant’s testimony that he filled out the daily screener on that basis,” the tribunal noted.

“He insisted in hindsight that it was a mistake that he typed ‘no’ to the first question on the daily screener. The applicant was again asked by counsel for the respondent whether, on the day that he attended work, he knew that he had COVID-19.

“The applicant curiously answered that he did not know that he had COVID-19 because, in his mind, there was no way that he would receive a screening form if this were the case, as he would be blocked by the respondent’s system. The witness said that his being sent the screening form was confirmation that he did not have COVID-19 and that he could report to work.”

The tribunal found Mr Bridgewater “conveniently and deliberately” distorted details and the sequence of events as they unfolded. It said his misconduct and dishonesty were a blatant disregard of fundamental and essential conditions of the employment contract.

It concluded that he committed a repudiatory breach that went to the root of his employment contract.

“The tribunal finds that the evidence unequivocally showed that the applicant, having knowingly tested positive for COVID-19 on January 22, 2021, did not await the results of his confirmatory RT-PCR test but instead knowingly entered false information into the daily screener in order to conceal his positive COVID-19 status,” the tribunal said.

“The evidence further revealed that the applicant committed the aforesaid act in order to receive a ‘cleared for work’ screen and access the respondent’s property for his previously scheduled work shift.”