Cassandra Ma

The defendants brought a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's action for lack of jurisdiction.

The plaintiff, a former police officer, sued for breach of a resignation agreement negotiated between herself, the police board, and the police association.

The court first determined that the jurisdictional issue was not res judicata, as a previous motion judge had struck the claim on other grounds without deciding the jurisdictional question.

Applying the Weber exclusive jurisdiction model, the court found that the essential character of the dispute arose from the collective agreement.

Therefore, exclusive jurisdiction to resolve the dispute lay with a labour arbitrator, not the Superior Court.

The action was dismissed.

The applicant, a former police officer, brought an application under section 137.1(3) of the Courts of Justice Act to dismiss an application brought by the respondent Police Services Board before the Human Rights Tribunal for Ontario.

The respondent's tribunal application sought to enforce a confidentiality provision in a resignation agreement.

The Superior Court held that it lacked jurisdiction to dismiss the tribunal proceeding, as the term 'proceeding' in section 137.1(3) is limited to civil proceedings before a court and does not extend to proceedings before administrative tribunals.

The application was dismissed.