The Association of Law Officers of the Crown (ALOC) applied for certification to represent a bargaining unit of articling students employed by the provincial government.
The Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU), which already represented the students, intervened and challenged ALOC's status as a trade union.
The majority of the Board dismissed the application, finding that under section 1(3)(a) of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, lawyers are not considered employees.
Consequently, ALOC, being comprised of lawyers, was not an 'organization of employees' and therefore lacked trade union status.
The Vice-Chair dissented, arguing that Crown lawyers are employees under the Crown Employees Collective Bargaining Act, 1993, and that ALOC retained its previously recognized trade union status.