Coke Canada Bottling terminates worker injured on the job, says keeping him would be too hard on the company

Shawne Hopkins never saw it coming.

After spending 35 years as a factory worker for Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited, Hopkins says his bosses terminated him last month in a five-minute phone call with no benefits and no severance.

“Thirty-five years, not even a handshake,” said the 57-year-old Airdrie, Alta., man who was seriously injured on the job two years earlier. 

On Jan. 8, 2024, Hopkins says a 907 kg overhead sliding door malfunctioned while he was trying to open it. The force “tore the flap right out” of Hopkins’ shoulder joint, also damaging his arm and neck.

“Insane pain. It was really, really bad,” Hopkins told Go Public. He says he repeatedly warned a Coca-Cola Bottling supervisor and the maintenance department about the door months before the injury. He says nothing was done.

Hopkins believes his employer’s lack of action led to his injury and ultimately his termination. CBC News asked Coca-Cola Bottling about that. It did not answer those questions. 

When the company let Hopkins go, it cited a rarely-used legal doctrine that lets employers terminate a worker if an unexpected situation makes keeping them an “undue hardship” for the company. That’s something one legal expert says doesn’t make sense given the size of Coca-Cola Bottling.

Rare legal doctrine

In a statement to Go Public, the company pointed to the rare legal doctrine it used to terminate Hopkins, one that labour experts say many workers have likely never heard about. It’s known as “frustration of employment,” sometimes called “frustration of contract.”  

It lets employers terminate a worker if an unexpected situation makes keeping them employed an “undue hardship” for the company.

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But labour and human rights lawyer Suzanne Solsona says that legal argument is difficult for employers to prove, especially with a company the size of Coca-Cola Bottling.

“There’s a real high bar on employers when it comes to frustration,” she said. 

Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited unveiled a new state-of-the-art warehouse facility in northeast Calgary in January. (Nate Luit/CBC)

On its website, Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited describes itself as a “Proudly independent and family-owned” distributor of Coca-Cola products. It operates separately from the Coca-Cola Company. 

It employs over 6,000 people nationwide. In January, it opened a $75-million state-of-the-art, AI-enabled facility in Calgary next to the building where Hopkins worked for decades.

‘I was just doing my job’

In the past two years, Hopkins has undergone multiple surgeries to try to repair the damage. 

Then, without warning on Feb. 9, Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited terminated him — immediately cutting off his benefits and offering no severance.

“That was a tough pill to swallow, because the reasoning was because I have caused the company undue hardship, they had to terminate me,” Hopkins said. “I was just doing my job like I’d done every day of every year.”

Solsona calls Hopkins’ termination “absolutely abhorrent.”

Labour law expert Suzanne Solsona in North Vancouver. (Martin Diotte/CBC)

“I have a really hard time believing that there’s no work throughout this entire organization after a real analysis of what this gentleman could do, that they have nothing for him,” Solsona said.

In a statement to Go Public, the company said it takes its obligations to injured workers seriously and works with medical professionals and workers’ compensation officials to determine what duties an employee can safely perform.

Company offers $2,500 one-time payment

Soon after the phone call where Hopkins was let go, he says he got a letter from the company saying: “after completing a thorough assessment of your permanent restrictions and available jobs/duties, we have determined that Coke Canada Bottling is unable to provide accommodation to you without undue hardship to the company.” 

The company offered him a one time “gratuitous” lump sum payment of $2,511.20, “in recognition” of his 35 years of service and to support his transition away from Coke Canada Bottling.

But the payment was conditional on Hopkins signing a non-disclosure agreement and releasing the company from liability.

After decades on the job, Hopkins says the offer felt insulting, so he turned it down.

After Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited terminated Hopkins, he says the company told him to direct questions to the Workers’ Compensation Board Alberta (WCB Alberta). 

The board accepted his claim, confirming his injuries were caused by a “workplace hazard.” 

In its statement to Go Public, Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited said WCB Alberta is responsible for managing medical costs, providing wage replacement and helping injured workers retrain or find new jobs.  

The WCB typically pays injured workers about 90 per cent of their take-home pay before the injury, up to a yearly maximum until they are 65.

If a worker returns to a lower-paying job due to medical restrictions, the board may provide partial benefits to top up the difference, but Hopkins says he’s been told by the WCB that none of that is guaranteed.

Hopkins is being retrained as a typist after Workers’ Compensation Board Alberta deemed him ready to work. (Nate Luit/CBC)

The board has now deemed Hopkins “ready to work,” but he and Solsona say the job he’s being trained for doesn’t make sense. 

After more than three decades as a factory worker, Hopkins is being retrained — to type with one hand. 

“I don’t know that I’ve seen any [job] postings for one-handed typing,” he said. “We’ll see where that takes me.”

Labour lawyer Solsona calls the situation ridiculous.  

“I, for the life of me, cannot understand why there isn’t another position within their organization with so many work sites.”

She also says two years is not enough time to fully understand a worker’s long-term limitations after a serious injury.  

“Unfortunately, I’ve seen that employees in Canada often get the short end of the stick,” she said. “It’s very difficult for employees at times to really get what they deserve in a situation like this.”

Coca-Cola Bottling responds 

Coca-Cola Canada Bottling Limited said it takes its obligations toward injured employees seriously.

The company says it works with WCB Alberta, medical professionals, outside specialists and union partners to determine what work an injured employee can perform — that may include both physical and desk roles. 

If no suitable role can be found, the company said the employment may be “frustrated” and the employee terminated “as outlined in Alberta labour laws.”

Hopkins’ union has filed a grievance in his case. Christopher Monette, director of public affairs for Teamsters Canada, says they’ve hired outside counsel for advice in the matter that could take months.

Lisa Hopkins says she and her husband both feel “abandoned” by Coca-Cola Bottling. She wonders how any company could treat a longtime employee this way. 

Lisa and Shawne Hopkins say it’s been a struggle since Shawne was injured. Lisa says they both feel ‘abandoned’ by Coca-Cola Bottling. (Nate Luit/CBC)

“If anybody’s frustrated, it’s us,” she said. “He has loss of mobility. He has restrictions. He’s in pain all the time.”

After decades with the same employer, Hopkins says he’s also worried about what comes next.

“It’s scary. Every day I’m scared.”

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