Labour board remedies set aside as punitive and violative of freedom of expression.
The appellant bank closed a unionized branch and merged it with a non-unionized branch.
The Canada Labour Relations Board found this constituted a sale of a business and an unfair labour practice, ordering the bank to create a $144,000 trust fund and send a Board-authored letter to all employees.
The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the Board's finding on the sale of a business, but set aside the trust fund and letter remedies, holding that they were punitive, lacked a rational connection to the unfair practice, and violated freedom of expression by compelling the bank to express opinions it did not hold.
National Bank of Canada v. Retail Clerks’ International Union et al., [1984] 1 S.C.R. 269
