Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal
PEHT Case No: 1248-19-PE
Sandra Commerford, Applicant v Niagara Health System, and Service Employees International Union, Local 1, Respondents
BEFORE: M. David Ross, Chair
DECISION OF THE TRIBUNAL: February 21, 2023
This is an application under the Pay Equity Act, R.S.O. 1990, c.P.7, as amended (“the Act”).
Section 4.2(1) of the Statutory Powers’ Procedure Act, 1990 permits a single presiding officer to determine this procedural and interlocutory matter.
This application was filed on July 19, 2019 (over 3.5 years ago). In this application, the applicant complains about both her employer’s and her trade unions’ inordinate delay in establishing a new pay equity plan following the creation of Niagara Health System in or around 2000 (23 years ago) and that her job class, the RPN classification, experienced a significant change to its job duties and responsibilities.
A hearing date has been scheduled for February 27, 2023. The last hearing date was scheduled on August 13, 2020. As such, the Tribunal has provided the parties plenty of time to resolve their issues.
By letter dated February 17, 2023, the applicant wrote to the Tribunal, on consent from the other parties, requesting to adjourn the hearing date until after June. No reason for the adjournment was provided in the letter.
In this matter, a preliminary objection has been raised with respect to applicant’s standing to bring this application, and that the application is premature.
The Tribunal does not grant the requested adjournment, as no compelling reason has been provided for the adjournment. This application was filed almost four years ago and involves a dispute going back to the year 2000. On the February 27, 2023 hearing date, the Tribunal will hear the parties’ submissions regarding the preliminary objection that the applicant lacks jurisdiction to bring this application. If the preliminary objection is dismissed, then hearing dates will be scheduled after June 2023 as requested, and the preliminary objections will have been disposed of, so the parties can address the merits of the case without further delay. If the preliminary motion is upheld, then no further hearing dates will be required. In any event, it is the Tribunal’s view that hearing the preliminary objection regarding the applicant’s standing to bring this application is the best way to ensure this matter proceeds forward, especially given that the pith and substance of the application is a complaint about the ongoing delay in implementing a pay equity plan.
“M. David Ross” . M. David Ross, Chair