Erin Epp

The appellant, an Ontario public service employee, appealed a decision of the Financial Services Tribunal regarding a pension plan amendment.

Upon promotion to a management position, the appellant transferred from the OPSEU Pension Plan to the Public Service Pension Plan.

A 2013 amendment to the OPSEU Plan eliminated the payout of 'Excess Commuted Value' upon such transfers.

The appellant argued the amendment was void under the Pension Benefits Act for reducing an accrued pension benefit.

The Divisional Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the Tribunal's findings that the excess payment was not a 'pension benefit' and had not 'accrued' at the time of the amendment.

The Member, a teacher, faced a discipline hearing for making inappropriate and vulgar comments to a student in class, and for taking school property for personal use and damaging a school storage locker to gain access.

The Member pleaded no contest to the allegations.

The Discipline Committee found the Member guilty of professional misconduct, including verbal and psychological abuse of a student, and disgraceful, dishonourable, or unprofessional conduct.

Accepting a joint submission on penalty, the Committee ordered a reprimand, a 10-month suspension of the Member's certificate, and the completion of a professional ethics course.

The union filed a policy grievance alleging that provisions in the collective agreement requiring employees on Long Term Income Protection (LTIP) with 30 years of pension credit to pay their own pension contributions discriminated on the basis of age.

The arbitrator found that the provisions resulted in adverse effect discrimination, as only older employees could accumulate 30 years of pension credit.

The employer failed to justify the discrimination as a bona fide occupational requirement or under section 1 of the Charter, as the sole objective was cost savings.

The impugned provisions were struck from the collective agreement.

The applicant school board sought judicial review of two arbitration decisions regarding the calculation of payouts for unused sick days upon retirement.

The arbitrator found that the collective agreement required rounding up years of service for teachers with more than X.500 years, and prohibited rounding down for those with less.

The Divisional Court dismissed the application, finding the arbitrator's interpretation of the collective agreement and rejection of the board's past practice and estoppel arguments to be reasonable.