GSB# 2024-01261

UNION# 2024-4100-0016

IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION

Under

THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT

Before

THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD

BETWEEN

Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Stansel)

Union

• and -

The Crown in Right of Ontario (Liquor Control Board of Ontario)

Employer

BEFORE

Bram Herlich

Arbitrator

FOR THE UNION

Shae MacPherson Koskie Minsky LLP Counsel

FOR THE EMPLOYER

John O'Reilly Liquor Control Board of Ontario Senior Counsel

HEARING

November 21, 2025 (written submissions)

Decision

1Further to my decision dated October 23, 2025, in which the union was provided an opportunity to submit reasons for the grievor’s failure to attend the hearing on October 21, 2025, the union has advised that “the grievor was absent on the Hearing Date due to serious health problems. The Grievor has informed the Union that she was hospitalized in the weeks leading up to the Hearing Date and was not discharged until the evening of October 21, 2025.”

2The employer is not prepared to accept this assertion at face value and without any supporting documentation.

3The Union advises that the Grievor is in the process of obtaining medical documentation to confirm the reasons for her absence. However, as the employer highlights, the Union also acknowledges that it has not been able to make contact with the Grievor since November 7, 2025 (the grievor’s lack of contact with and response to the Union appears to have been an ongoing issue).

4The Union submits, as its primary position, that sufficient information has now been provided to warrant relisting the matter for hearing on the merits. In the alternative it asks that further time be provided for the submission of medical information. The employer asserts that the requirements of my previous decision have not been met and that the deemed termination should proceed.

5If the Union’s submissions are true and provable, they would seem to provide an adequate explanation for the Grievor’s failure to attend.

6In all of the circumstances, I am satisfied that it would be appropriate to provide further time for the submission of documentation to support the asserted reasons for the Grievor’s failure to attend.

7Accordingly, the effective date of the grievor’s deemed termination is hereby extended to December 23, 2025. The conditions of my previous award will continue to apply. In addition, should the union fail, by that date, to provide the documentation it is now seeking, the deemed termination will be effected.