The complainants filed a jurisdictional dispute complaint under section 91 of the Labour Relations Act, identical to an earlier complaint that had been dismissed due to their failure to attend a pre-hearing conference.
The respondents objected to the Board entertaining the new complaint, arguing res judicata and abuse of process.
The Board declined to apply res judicata, as the earlier dismissal was not an adjudication on the merits.
However, the Board exercised its discretion under section 91(1) to refuse to entertain the complaint, finding that the complainants lost their opportunity for a hearing through their own inadvertence and that reopening the matter would not serve any good industrial relations purpose.
