The complainant filed a duty of fair representation complaint against the union 18 months after his discharge, and subsequently added the successor employer, TNT Canada Inc., as a respondent 21 months after the discharge.
TNT brought a preliminary motion to dismiss the complaint against it due to extreme delay.
The Board found that the 21-month delay was extreme and caused significant prejudice to TNT, as it was not the employer at the time of discharge and the relevant management personnel had since left.
As the complainant failed to provide compelling labour relations reasons for the delay, the Board dismissed the claim for relief against TNT and adjourned the remainder of the complaint against the union.
