Did you feel the barometric pressure change in the province of Alberta on October 4? That’s when the business community let out a collective sigh of relief and began breathing normally again.

Blair Hallet had been let off the hook with only a slap on the wrist by Chief Justice Allan Wachowich, despite being found guilty of obstructing justice in the investigation following the workplace death of his 14 year old nephew, Shane Stecyk.

What made the case so promising to those seeking a jail term was that it had all the elements that would seem to support one.

Hallett had a history of callous disregard for the orders of Occupational Health and Safety Officers. His actions had led to a tragic fatality resulting in convictions and stiff (for Alberta) sentences under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. Finally, there is growing support for increasing penalties for those responsible for placing the health of workers in jeopardy.

These same reasons make the sentence so disappointing. In sentencing Hallett to a one year conditional sentence, of which the harshest component is 180 hours of community service, Chief Justice Wachowich squandered the opportunity to set an historic legal precedent and send a strong message to employers.

The case first became public on July 11, 2000, when Stecyk fell to his death while working on the construction site of Hy-mark Construction, a company wholly owned by Hallett. On May 2, 2002 Hallett and Hy-Mark were convicted of violations of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, in relation to this event. Fines totaled $138,000.

The facts presented at that trial showed a clear pattern on the part of Hallett and Hy-mark of ignoring orders from the Occupational Health and Safety department for several years prior.

Criminal charges for Obstruction of Justice were also laid at the time of the incident. Trial evidence presented on October 4 showed how Hallett tried to mislead investigations by putting up safety barriers AFTER Stecyk had fallen.

Crown prosecutor David Myrol sought a 3 month jail sentence, while defense counsel Jim Odishaw argued for a conditional discharge. In explaining his sentencing, Chief Justice Wachowich explained that "This accused will continue to be punished for the rest of his life for his part in this tragedy, every time he looks into his sister’s eyes."

Unfortunately, this explanation reinforces the notion that the workplace is a world unto its own, and that the normal rules of justice need not be applied. The sentence also fails to recognize that Shane Stecyk’s death represents a horrible breach of the trust that Stecyk’s family placed in Hallett, first as a family member, then as an employer. Hallett’s "sentimental’ sentence ignores this important policy issue. The violation of such trust is usually reason for increasing the severity of a sentence, not reducing it.

It is difficult to imagine a case that has so much helped to raise the profile of health and safety in this province. I’ve heard it argued by corporate health and safety types that this alone will change the way work is done in the province. But I don’t buy it.

The corporate sigh of relief that reverberated around the province was acknowledgement that a bullet had been dodged. The courts in this province still have not demonstrated that they give the life of a worker, even that of a 14 year old, the same value they give to one taken with similar violence outside of the workplace. It seems that in Alberta, once a citizen enters the workplace, the rules of natural justice and the rights of the common citizen are suspended in favour of the lingering historic powers of the master-servant relationship.