The appeal concerned whether a labour arbitrator had exclusive jurisdiction to determine an employee’s entitlement to long term disability benefits payable under an insurance policy maintained pursuant to a collective agreement.
The court held that recent jurisprudence, including Pilon, did not extend arbitral jurisdiction to a dispute between an employee and an insurer over policy benefits where the issue was the insurer’s liability under the policy.
The arbitrator also erred in joining the insurer as a party defendant where no dispute properly implicating the insurer was before him.
The appeal was dismissed and the Divisional Court’s order quashing the award was upheld.
