A downtown London restaurant-bar is facing a five-figure fine after a worker was struck by a customer and hospitalized. El Furniture Warehouse, located at 645 Richmond St., has been hit with a $55,000 fine following a ruling by Ontario’s Ministry of Labour.
On Nov. 5, 2023, at about 1 a.m., a floor manager asked a worker who was acting as a host to tell a customer to leave. As the worker spoke to the patron, the person “mimicked striking the worker,” the ministry said.
A second later, the patron’s companion struck the worker and both fell to the floor. When the worker tried to stand, the patron struck them again, the ministry said. The worker called 911 and reported the assault to the floor manager through a social media messaging app. They were taken to hospital and treated for an injury. The Ministry of Labour found the chain – which operates restaurants and bars across Canada – had “little to no procedure or training for handling violent situations.
“There were no procedures for getting immediate assistance, no radios to assist with communication between workers and no security guards at the time,” ministry officials said in a statement issued on Monday. Despite “incidents of violence in the previous year,” El Furniture Warehouse had not completed a workplace risk assessment, inspectors said.
Following a guilty plea in provincial offences court in London about one month ago, on Nov. 10, El Furniture Warehouse was fined $55,000.
The ministry determined the worker was injured during a workplace violence incident and that the company “failed to develop, maintain and implement a workplace violence policy” as required under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The court also imposed a 25 per cent victim fine surcharge, which goes to a provincial fund supporting victims of crime.
Original Source: Downtown London bar fined $55K after worker struck by customer | London Free Press
Original Author: Beatriz Baleeiro
