David C. Moore

The complainants, employees laid off from a Dominion Stores warehouse, alleged that their union breached its duty of fair representation under section 68 of the Labour Relations Act.

They claimed the union improperly refused to process their grievances regarding the lay-off, failed to file a bad faith bargaining complaint against the employer concerning store closures, and kept members in the dark.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board dismissed the complaints, finding that the union had fairly considered the grievances in light of a negotiated lay-off arrangement and had reasonably concluded that a bad faith bargaining complaint would not succeed.

The Board found no evidence of arbitrary, discriminatory, or bad faith conduct by the union.

The appellant husband appealed an order granting the respondent wife exclusive lifetime possession of the matrimonial home under the Family Law Reform Act, arguing it was invalid or inoperative due to paramountcy when joined with a maintenance order under the Divorce Act.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that an order for exclusive possession is not a support order, and the provisions of the two statutes are not mutually exclusive.

The Court found no conflict between the federal and provincial legislation, as they confer independent jurisdictions in relation to different subject matters that complement each other.

The complainants brought a section 89 complaint alleging the union violated section 68 of the Labour Relations Act by arbitrarily or in bad faith failing to pursue a section 15 failure to bargain complaint against the employer.

The complainants sought an order for the production of documents from the employer to show that a prima facie section 15 case existed.

The Board denied the request, holding that the merits of the unpursued section 15 case, based on documents unknown to the union at the time, were irrelevant to assessing the union's state of mind and conduct when it decided not to proceed.