G. Deszca

The grievor, a former Employment Equity Manager, filed four grievances against the Ministry of Transportation.

She alleged that her transfer to a Project Manager position was arbitrary, discriminatory, and the culmination of a series of acts of sexual discrimination and harassment.

She also grieved the employer's handling of a harassment complaint made against her by a subordinate, and the employer's decision not to grant her an interview for a subsequent Employment Equity Manager competition.

The Public Service Grievance Board dismissed all four grievances.

The Board found that the transfer was made for legitimate business reasons and to remove the grievor from a discordant work environment, not for discriminatory reasons.

The Board also found no breach of the duty of fairness in the handling of the complaint against her, and concluded that the decision not to interview her for the competition was a reasonable, conscious decision by the employer.

The grievor, a senior executive, was released from employment and declared surplus pursuant to s. 22(4) of the Public Service Act.

Eleven months after the expiry of the 21-day time limit, the grievor filed a grievance alleging wrongful dismissal.

The employer raised preliminary objections regarding jurisdiction and timeliness.

The Public Service Grievance Board assumed jurisdiction by treating the matter as an alleged wrongful dismissal grievance but declined to extend the time limits for filing.

Finding no satisfactory explanation for the lengthy delay, the Board dismissed the grievance as untimely.

Following a successful grievance arbitration, the grievor submitted a bill of costs for legal expenses.

The employer refused to pay, arguing the Public Service Grievance Board lacked jurisdiction to award costs.

The Board held that its remedial authority implicitly includes the power to award reasonable legal costs to restore a successful grievor to their rightful financial position.

After reviewing the grievor's counsel's time records, the Board reduced the claimed amount of $46,797.18 and fixed reasonable legal costs at $14,047.18.

The grievors, first-level supervisory staff at the Whitby Jail, filed a grievance alleging that the employer acted arbitrarily, discriminatorily, and in bad faith by failing to address the erosion and elimination of salary differentials between managers and their bargaining unit subordinates.

The employer objected that the grievance was inarbitrable.

The Public Service Grievance Board dismissed the grievance, finding that it lacked jurisdiction to rectify salary relationships or revise compensation levels for management personnel, and that the grievors failed to establish bad faith or discriminatory conduct by the employer.