Conductor wins job back after being fired for positive cocaine test at Port Coquitlam rail yard

A railway conductor has won his job back after being fired for having trace amounts of cocaine in his body at the Port Coquitlam rail yard.

After a recent hearing between the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and the Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railway, formerly known as Canadian Pacific, an arbitrator ruled there was no just cause for the discipline. The conductor was ordered reinstated without conditions, loss of seniority or benefits, and and is to be paid lost wages.

“The positive test is one piece of evidence and demonstrates some ‘use’ of cocaine several days before, it does not establish impairment by cocaine while on the job,” the arbitrator said in the decision. “As a result, there was no just cause to discipline the (conductor) for his illegal drug use which had occurred several days before his shift began.”

The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Feb. 5, 2021, and involved a train running through a switch at the west end of the Port Coquitlam yard.