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Union breached duty of fair representation and hospital interfered with representation rights during disciplinary meeting.
The complainant, a registered nurse with 27 years of service, was suspended pending an investigation into her conduct.
At a disciplinary meeting, she was given the choice to resign or be terminated.
Her union representative, who was also her charge nurse and had a conflict of interest, was instructed by a union official to only take notes and not speak.
The hospital refused the complainant's requests to adjourn the meeting to obtain proper representation.
The complainant signed a letter of resignation, which a subsequent arbitration board found to be voluntary, precluding a hearing on the merits of her termination.
The Ontario Labour Relations Board found that the union breached its duty of fair representation under section 68 of the Labour Relations Act by acting arbitrarily and discriminatorily in failing to provide meaningful representation.
The Board also found that the hospital violated section 64 by intentionally interfering with the complainant's right to union representation.
Exercising its broad remedial authority under section 89(4), the Board directed that the complainant's termination grievance be heard on its merits, notwithstanding the prior arbitration award.
