OGSB 2015

The union filed a grievance alleging the employer violated the collective agreement and the Ontario Human Rights Code by removing the grievor from her position due to medical concerns.

Following an expedited mediation-arbitration process, the Vice-Chair directed the employer to offer the grievor a temporary assignment as a Program Support Clerk and to give her fair consideration for future Inmate Records Clerk vacancies.

The employer was also directed to screen the grievor into a recent competition and grant her an interview.

The grievance was terminated.

The grievor, a banquet server, was terminated following a loud, profane verbal altercation with a co-worker in a service corridor.

The union grieved the termination, arguing the grievor was provoked by the co-worker's persistent badgering about full-time status hours.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievance, finding that the grievor's outburst was disproportionate to the alleged provocation and that he had ample opportunity to end the interaction before escalating.

Given the grievor's extensive recent disciplinary record for similar misconduct, the termination was upheld.

During a teleconference call regarding a grievance arbitration, the Grievance Settlement Board issued a consent order directing the Union to produce all arguably relevant documents, including medical reports, to the Employer by a specified date.

The union filed a grievance alleging that the grievor was suspended from work and sent home, resulting in a four-hour reduction in pay.

The employer contended that the grievor was unhappy with a managerial decision and chose to leave the workplace.

The Grievance Settlement Board, in an expedited mediation-arbitration process, found on a balance of probabilities that the grievor was not suspended but chose to leave the workplace.

The grievance was dismissed.

The union filed a grievance claiming the employer violated the collective agreement and travel policy by failing to compensate the grievor for parking and mileage expenses incurred on two dates.

The parties agreed to a bottom-line decision without reasons.

The arbitrator dismissed the grievance.

The grievor, a fixed-term Correctional Officer, called in sick and was asked to provide a medical certificate upon his return.

He filed a grievance after not being paid for the missed shift, arguing that the Employer improperly requested medical certificates from everyone who reported ill that weekend.

The Employer maintained that managerial discretion was exercised in requesting the certificates.

The Grievance Settlement Board found no violation of the Collective Agreement and dismissed the grievance.

The Union filed policy and individual grievances alleging the Employer breached the collective agreement, the Human Rights Code, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act by failing to respond to media reports quoting a correctional officer and his counsel who claimed there were 'white supremacist' officers at the Toronto Jail.

The Union argued the Employer had a duty to issue public and internal statements defending non-racialized staff and mitigating the harm caused by the comments.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the grievances, finding that the Employer's decision to refrain from commenting on a matter before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, while remaining ready to assist affected employees, fell within the range of reasonable responses.

The Grievance Settlement Board issued an interim order regarding the grievor's failure to attend a hearing on June 1, 2015.

The grievor was ordered to produce documentary evidence to the Union by October 13, 2015, to support the request for an adjournment.

If the evidence is insufficient, the Employer may proceed with motions to dismiss the grievances.

The parties agreed that no liability would accrue from February 24, 2014, until the hearing on the merits commences.

The Grievance Settlement Board issued procedural directions in a grievance arbitration.

The Union was ordered to provide full particulars of discrimination, harassment, and health and safety allegations.

The parties were directed to exchange relevant documents.

The grievor was ordered to sign consents for the release of medical records, failing which his claim for damages based on his medical condition would not be considered.

Peremptory hearing dates were set for February 2016.

During a grievance arbitration regarding the termination of a Youth Officer for alleged excessive use of force, the employer sought to introduce a transcript of the youth's interview with an investigator for the truth of its contents.

The youth had been summonsed but failed to attend the hearing.

The arbitrator held that the transcript was hearsay and did not meet the Supreme Court of Canada's test for necessity and threshold reliability under Khelawon.

The transcript was ruled admissible only to show the basis of the employer's decision-making, not for the truth of its contents.

The union filed six grievances on behalf of the grievor alleging harassment, discrimination, and other violations.

The grievor failed to attend the scheduled arbitration hearing, and union counsel suggested this was due to mental health issues.

The employer requested orders for particulars and medical evidence to substantiate the grievor's inability to participate.

The Grievance Settlement Board ordered the union to provide medical evidence from the grievor's treating psychiatrist if she claims inability to participate due to health issues, and to provide full particulars and disclosure at least 10 days before the next scheduled hearing date.

The Grievance Settlement Board issued a procedural direction ordering the Union to clarify its allegations regarding how the Employer failed to follow the OPS Return to Work Policy and the Health Reassignment Process by November 30, 2015.

The employer applied to dismiss the grievance without a hearing on the basis that it disclosed no prima facie case.

The grievor, a 33-year employee, resigned after being informed that his employment would be terminated following a workplace investigation into alleged inappropriate comments.

The union grieved, seeking damages for a flawed investigation, but did not seek to undo the resignation.

The Grievance Settlement Board found that because the grievor voluntarily resigned to avoid termination and litigation, the adequacy of the investigation was irrelevant.

The grievance was dismissed as there was no case to meet.

The Employer brought preliminary motions to bifurcate the proceedings and to strike certain particulars provided by the Union.

The grievances alleged a failure to accommodate the grievor's physical and psychological restrictions, leading to her refusal to return to an unsafe workplace and her subsequent termination for job abandonment.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the motion to bifurcate, finding that the issues were intertwined and bifurcation would not increase efficiency.

The Board allowed the motion to strike particulars regarding the OPSEU Pension Trust as being too remote, but permitted the remaining particulars, including those pre-dating May 1, 2013, as they were relevant to establishing a pattern of harassment and the ongoing accommodation process.

The Grievance Settlement Board issued a decision directing the Employer to adjust the complainant's salary to $91,650, pay $4,000 in retroactive pay and $3,500 in damages, and remove a July 8, 2013 letter from the complainant's file.

The grievance was terminated.

The grievor, a Correctional Officer, filed a grievance alleging he was improperly bypassed for overtime opportunities due to his accommodation needs.

The employer raised a preliminary objection that the grievance was filed well beyond the mandatory time limits set out in the collective agreement.

The Grievance Settlement Board agreed, finding no reasonable explanation for the delay that would justify extending the time limits.

The grievance was dismissed.

A hearing was scheduled for a grievance disputing the employer's process for granting an unpaid leave of absence.

The grievor failed to attend the hearing.

The employer requested that the grievance be dismissed.

The arbitrator declined to dismiss the grievance immediately without notice, and ordered the grievor to provide sufficient reasons for his non-attendance within two weeks, failing which the grievance would be dismissed.

The Ministry brought a preliminary motion arguing that the Union's grievances regarding excessive workload for ODSP Caseworkers failed to make out a prima facie case for a breach of the health and safety provision of the collective agreement.

The Grievance Settlement Board dismissed the motion, finding that the Union's particulars, if assumed to be true, were capable of supporting the conclusion that the workload was excessive and constituted a breach of the collective agreement.

The union filed 12 grievances alleging health and safety violations under the collective agreement at probation and parole offices in Toronto.

Following unsuccessful mediation, the Grievance Settlement Board ordered the union to provide full particulars to the employer by August 17, 2015, and to produce the relied-upon medical documentation by November 1, 2015.

The Employer sought production of arguably relevant, non-privileged documents from the Union and the grievor, including clinical notes and records related to the grievor's accommodation request and harassment allegations.

The Grievance Settlement Board ordered the production of these documents, subject to strict confidentiality conditions limiting their use and disclosure to specific Employer representatives and medical experts solely for the purposes of the proceeding.