The appellant employee was dismissed without just cause after ten years of service.
He complained to the Director of Labour Standards, who ordered reinstatement and lost wages under s. 67A of the Labour Standards Code.
The Labour Standards Tribunal upheld this decision.
The employer successfully appealed to the Appeal Division, which held that the provisions conferring this power on the Tribunal violated s. 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867.
On appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court applied the Residential Tenancies test and held that while the Tribunal exercises a judicial function broadly conformable to that of s. 96 courts at Confederation, it does so as a necessarily incidental aspect of the broader policy goal of providing minimum standards of protection for non-unionized employees.
The appeal was allowed and the legislation was upheld as intra vires the province.
