Ontario Construction News staff writer
An April 9 jobsite party where a stripper and a drywall contractor’s employees were caught on camera ignoring (to an extreme degree) COVID-19 social distancing regulations has resulted in firm denunciations from their former employer and Mattamy Homes, the property’s developer.
The workers also were fired.
Images from the incident involving employees of Nelmar Drywall were posted on Twitter.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), which initially reported about the event, quoted Mattamy as saying the stripper’s party was “extremely inappropriate and entirely unacceptable.” The broadcaster also reported that Nelmar has denounced the workers’ conduct and says it is taking steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again.
The Twitter post includes several photos of a woman interacting with multiple men at a construction site, one of whom is wearing a Nelmar Drywall Co Ltd shirt. A bottle of Grey Goose vodka can be seen in one of the series of photos, CBC reported.
“CBC News also obtained graphic video of the incident showing at least four men watching and two men touching the woman while she dances,” the broadcaster said. “Nobody in the video is wearing a mask or physically distancing, despite government rules for job sites.”
The development company says the individuals involved in the incident behaved in a “grossly inappropriate and reckless fashion,” and that Nelmar Drywall has terminated its relationship with everyone involved.
“We hold our trade partners to a high standard and insist that they conduct themselves professionally and ethically. Those standards were not met in this case,” Mattamy Homes said in an emailed statement.
Mattamy told CBC that it had no prior knowledge of the event and that none of its employees were present. “We nonetheless regret that this incident took place at one of our sites.”
Mattamy says it will be reinforcing its policies and expectations of all Mattamy’s trade partners regarding its workplace code of conduct, as well as its COVID-19 protocols.
The developer said it will also review its site security procedures and will make adjustments where necessary.
Nelmar Drywall Co. Ltd. representatives told CBC News that a video and various images of the incident depict “inappropriate and completely unacceptable conduct.”
“Nelmar wholeheartedly denounces the conduct displayed,” the subcontractor’s lawyers said in an emailed statement, adding that the company was unaware of the incident prior to the circulation of the video and images.
The statement says that the conduct displayed is in violation of Nelmar’s code of conduct and company policies, including those related to COVID-19 protocols, workplace anti-discrimination and anti-harassment.
“Upon being made aware of the incident, Nelmar took immediate steps to investigate the matter to determine the identity of all those individuals involved,” the statement says.
“Nelmar has terminated the employment of all persons involved in the incident.”
Nelmar says further steps may be expected where necessary, including additional workplace training and increased monitoring “to prevent any such conduct at its job sites or workplace in the future.”