Joel Neville

The applicant union breached a settlement agreement by paying a $1,000 photocopying fee late.

The responding employers sought to have the applications dismissed as a consequence of the breach, and requested that the Board consider representations made during the mediation process.

The Board panel, having mediated the settlement, decided to recuse itself from determining the consequences of the breach, as it would be inappropriate for the panel to hear evidence regarding confidential mediation communications.

The matter was referred to the Registrar to assign a different panel to hear the employers' request for dismissal.

The responding party, Lardale Construction Inc., requested reconsideration of the Board's previous decision to recuse itself from hearing the matter.

The Board accepted that the parties were not given an adequate opportunity to make submissions on the recusal issue.

Consequently, the Board rescinded its recusal decision and directed the parties to file submissions on whether the panel should recuse itself and refer the matters to a different panel.

In related applications concerning grievances, sale of a business, and related employer declarations, the applicants sought production of documents dating back to 1978 based on a prior settlement agreement.

The Board ruled that requiring production of documents older than 1990 would be oppressive and outweighed their marginal relevance.

The Board ordered production of various corporate, financial, and project documents from 1990 onwards.

The applicants' subsequent request for an adjournment to review the newly produced documents was denied, as the responding parties would be presenting their evidence first and cross-examination could begin on areas where production was complete.