The respondents raised preliminary objections to the hearing of human rights complaints alleging racial discrimination in employment and union representation.
The employer and union argued that the complaints should be dismissed due to unreasonable delay and that the prior dismissal of the complainant's grievance at arbitration rendered the matter res judicata.
The employer also objected to the Board hearing complaints against multiple respondents contemporaneously, while the union argued that its representational services were not covered by the Code.
The Board of Inquiry dismissed all preliminary objections, holding that it lacked discretion to dismiss complaints for delay, that res judicata did not apply because human rights are statutory and additional to collective agreement rights, that it had implicit power to hear related complaints together, and that discriminatory provision of union representation services violates the Code.
