Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal

PEHT Case No: 0134-18-PE

Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1328, Applicant v Toronto Catholic District School Board, Respondent

BEFORE: M. David Ross, Chair

DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL: August 27, 2020

1. This is an application under the Pay Equity Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P.7, as amended (“the Act”).

2. By decision dated August 18, 2020, I directed that the matter proceed to the September 14, 2020 hearing date only to determine what matters, if any, will proceed to a hearing with consideration to the disposition in Board File No. 0288-15-PE and the Review Officers’ decision not to investigate the complaint because of the similarity of the issues raised in that matter and the instant case.

3. The applicant wrote to the Tribunal, on consent, by letter dated August 26, 2020 to use the September 14, 2020 date “for case management and to develop a plan for the litigation of this matter”.

4. It is not clear to me what the difference is between what the parties believe would be accomplished at the hearing date as they characterized it, and what my August 18, 2020 decision directed. There has not been a decision yet about which issues are to be litigated given the respondent’s preliminary motion to dismiss this matter.

5. If the parties intend to use the September 14, 2020 hearing date only for the purpose of setting timelines for litigating the issue of what should be litigated, there is no reason to hold a video hearing, as that can be done through written submissions. I was clear that if the parties require more time to file their submissions or wish to reschedule the September 14, 2020 hearing date, they are free to write to the Tribunal and request an extension of time, and if they wish to propose their own schedule, the Tribunal is more than willing to consider it.

6. However, if the September 14, 2020 hearing date proceeds, an outcome of that hearing date will be clarity about which issues are proceeding to a hearing, either by agreement of the parties, or if they cannot agree, a decision of the Tribunal based on the submissions filed in advance of the September 14, 2020 date and the parties’ submissions at the hearing. The Tribunal will also case manage the process for litigating the issues that remain outstanding at the September 14, 2020 hearing date as well.

Dated at Toronto, Ontario this 27^th^ day of August, 2020.

“M. David Ross” .

M. David Ross, Chair