A Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) labor arbitration decision revealed that the agency rescinded a three-day suspension against a veteran rulings officer who attached a personal antenna to an office television to watch the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Thom Bartleman, a 27-year veteran rulings officer, faced disciplinary action after bringing the antenna into a boardroom on July 11, 2018, during the semi-final match between England and Croatia.
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The CRA initially imposed a suspension after a supervisor claimed Bartleman watched the game for 30 minutes and ignored direct orders to return to work.
The agency eventually dropped the penalty after Bartleman filed a grievance and successfully argued that work logs proved he was conducting an interview during the disputed time.
Arbitrator David Olsen ultimately declared the grievance moot because Bartleman had already retired and the agency had removed the suspension from his record.
Bartleman contested the suspension by explaining his exact timeline to management, clarifying that he only checked the television connection briefly during his lunch break before returning later during an official intermission.
"During the lunch.
I connected an aerial to a television and watched the television for five minutes to see if it was working.
I returned at 3 PM and turned the television on. It was intermission," wrote Thom Bartleman, CRA Rulings Officer.
The veteran employee expressed deep frustration regarding how management handled the incident, noting that he was forced to endure an embarrassing exit from the workplace.
