Douglas John Wray

The applicant Union sought judicial review of an arbitrator's decision dismissing a grievance concerning the discharge of a disabled worker.

The Union argued it was denied natural justice because the arbitrator refused its counsel access to the employer's plant to observe jobs, and refused to admit Physical Demands Analysis documents as exhibits.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the arbitrator's discretionary rulings were reasonable, caused no prejudice, and did not result in procedural unfairness.

The applicant union sought judicial review of two Ontario Labour Relations Board decisions that allowed a competing union's certification application to proceed despite being filed early.

The applicant argued the Board lacked jurisdiction to alter absolute statutory time limits.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the issue was not one of true jurisdiction but of statutory interpretation within the Board's core expertise.

Applying a reasonableness standard, the Court held the Board's exercise of discretion under s. 111(3) of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 was justified, transparent, and intelligible given the unique factual matrix.

The Service Employees International Union applied for judicial review of an interest arbitration award that imposed a zero salary increase for the first two years of a collective agreement with 98 nursing homes.

The union argued the arbitrator unreasonably ignored the employers' ability to pay, mischaracterized Ontario's economy, and relied on inappropriate comparable settlements.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the arbitrator's application of the statutory criteria under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act and his ultimate award were reasonable and entitled to a high degree of deference.

The applicant, TVO, sought judicial review of a labour arbitration award which found it breached a collective agreement by allowing a non-bargaining unit member to record interviews that were later posted online as podcasts.

The Divisional Court quashed the award, finding the arbitrator's decision unreasonable because the recordings were originally made for research purposes, a permitted activity for non-bargaining unit members.

The court also found the arbitrator breached procedural fairness by refusing to consider the intervener union's de minimis argument.

The applicant union sought judicial review of an arbitration award that held the union was estopped from proceeding with a grievance regarding the contracting out of a position.

The arbitrator had found that the union's conduct led the company to rely on a settlement to its detriment.

The Divisional Court found the arbitrator's findings on estoppel were inconsistent with his earlier factual findings that the company's representative had merely made an assumption about the union's intentions.

The court concluded the arbitrator's decision was unreasonable, quashed the award, and remitted the grievance to a different arbitrator.

The unions sought leave to appeal an order granting super priority to a DIP lender over provincial pension legislation in a CCAA restructuring.

The Court of Appeal denied leave, finding the proposed appeals lacked sufficient merit.

The court upheld the motion judge's application of the doctrine of paramountcy, agreeing that without the DIP financing and super priority, the objectives of the CCAA would be frustrated and the company would be forced into bankruptcy.

The applicant union sought judicial review of an arbitrator's decision dismissing a grievance.

The grievance challenged the employer's practice of counting paid bereavement leave under the collective agreement towards the 10 days of unpaid personal emergency leave provided by section 50 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding that the arbitrator's interpretation of the collective agreement and the statute was reasonable and within a range of acceptable outcomes.

The applicant, a director of a bankrupt Nova Scotia corporation operating in Ontario, sought judicial review of an Ontario Labour Relations Board decision upholding an Order to Pay unpaid wages to Ontario employees.

The applicant argued she was exempt under s. 80(4) of the Employment Standards Act, 2000, asserting the provision should be read disjunctively.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the Board's conjunctive interpretation of s. 80(4) was reasonable and consistent with the remedial purpose of the Act, despite brief contrary pronouncements in prior civil court decisions.

The applicant union sought judicial review of an arbitration award that dismissed five individual grievances concerning post-age 65 retirement benefits.

The arbitrator had upheld the employer's preliminary objection, finding that the issues had already been decided in a prior policy grievance arbitration and were barred by res judicata, issue estoppel, and abuse of process.

The union argued the arbitrator failed to address its new arguments regarding age discrimination under the Human Rights Code.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, holding that the arbitrator's application of res judicata and abuse of process was reasonable, as the union could have raised the human rights arguments during the initial policy grievance.

The applicant sought judicial review of an Ontario Labour Relations Board decision finding that the respondent union was a 'trade union' within the meaning of s. 1(1) of the Labour Relations Act.

The applicant argued that the respondent could not be an organization of employees because its constitution allowed independent employee organizations to be members, and that it lacked an identifiable set of rules due to irregularities in the election of its founding officers.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, holding that the Board's interpretation of its home statute was reasonable and that the founding members could unanimously waive or vary the provisions of the union's constitution.

The applicant applied for judicial review of an arbitration award concerning the contracting out of a 'locating function' previously performed by an Inspector.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding that the locating function constituted 'work' under the collective agreement.

The court held that the standard of review for the arbitrator's remedy was reasonableness.

The arbitrator's decision to award damages as an incentive for compliance, calculated based on the value of the work, was deemed reasonable.

The application was dismissed with costs awarded to the respondent.

The appellant union applied to the Canada Industrial Relations Board for certification as the bargaining agent for the employees of a children's aid society providing services to Aboriginal families in Toronto.

The agency challenged the application, arguing its labour relations fell under exclusive provincial authority.

The Supreme Court of Canada held that the essential function of the agency is to deliver child welfare services, which is a provincial function.

The presumption of provincial jurisdiction over labour relations was not displaced by the Aboriginal aspects of the agency's operations.

The employer sought judicial review of an interest arbitration award, arguing the arbitration board breached procedural fairness by considering post-hearing wage settlement data without allowing further submissions.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding that the board used the public information in a supplementary and confirmatory manner.

The court held that this approach was consistent with the flexible duty of fairness and the legislative nature of interest arbitration.

The employer appealed a Divisional Court decision dismissing its application for judicial review of an arbitral award.

The board of arbitration had ruled that the employer's policy of random drug testing for safety-sensitive employees, absent reasonable cause, violated the collective agreement's requirement to treat employees with dignity and respect.

The Court of Appeal held that while the Divisional Court erred in applying the patent unreasonableness standard instead of reasonableness, the board's decision was reasonable.

The board did not err by referencing the 'Canadian model' of arbitral jurisprudence, nor did it improperly rely on facts outside the record or amend the collective agreement.

The applicant union sought judicial review of an arbitrator's decision dismissing its grievance regarding post-65 retirement benefits under a collective agreement following municipal amalgamation.

The union argued the arbitrator unreasonably rejected extrinsic evidence and misinterpreted a grand-parenting clause.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the arbitrator's conclusions on both the extrinsic evidence and the interpretation of the eligibility requirements were reasonable.

Imperial Oil Limited applied for judicial review of an arbitration board's decision that its random drug testing policy using buccal swabs violated the collective agreement.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding that the arbitration board's interpretation of the collective agreement in light of established arbitral jurisprudence (the 'Canadian model') was not patently unreasonable.

The Court held that the board did not alter the collective agreement, did not rely on unsupported findings of fact, and reasonably interpreted the agreement's requirement to treat employees with respect and dignity without needing to apply the Human Rights Code.

The applicant union sought judicial review of an arbitrator's decision that the collective agreement did not require the respondent City to pay the Ontario Health Premium for its full-time employees.

The Divisional Court applied the patent unreasonableness standard of review, following recent Court of Appeal jurisprudence on similar grievances.

The Court found that the arbitrator's interpretation of the collective agreement language, concluding that the parties did not intend the employer to pay the income tax-based premium, was reasonable.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.

The applicant union local sought judicial review of an Ontario Labour Relations Board decision that allowed the parent union to assume jurisdiction over a specific construction project.

The Board had proceeded by way of an expedited consultation process rather than a full hearing, relying on pleadings and oral submissions.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding that the Board's Rule 41 permitting consultations was not ultra vires, the Board did not breach natural justice or procedural fairness, and its decisions on both procedure and the merits were not patently unreasonable given the specialized labour relations context and the need for expedition.

The applicant union sought judicial review of an Ontario Labour Relations Board decision resolving a work jurisdiction dispute over stone masonry work on a construction project.

The Board had ordered the subcontractor to assign the work to the respondent union based on collective bargaining agreement obligations.

The Divisional Court applied the patent unreasonableness standard of review, finding that the Board's consideration of the employer's identity, local area practices, and the general contractor's non-party status was rational and supported by evidence.

The application for judicial review was dismissed.

The Union brought a motion to set aside a decision of a single judge of the Divisional Court, who had dismissed the Union's motion to strike an affidavit filed by the City of Hamilton on an application for judicial review.

The underlying judicial review challenged the Ontario Labour Relations Board's certification of the Union.

The Divisional Court panel allowed the motion in part, holding that while affidavit evidence regarding notice was admissible to establish a denial of natural justice, the remaining paragraphs containing evidence not before the Board must be struck out in accordance with the Keeprite principle.