Jurisdiction Over Harassment Complaints In Union Context

Unionized employees who have complaints about how they are treated by their employer -including claims where personal injury has resulted from the treatment – must pursue their complaints using the grievance and arbitration processes all collective agreements contain.

Our British Columbia Court of Appeal in a recent decision (Ferreiera V. Richmond (City)) has confirmed that the courts have no jurisdiction over such disputes even though no breach of an express collective agreement provision is alleged.

In this particular case the civic employee complained that his treatment amounted to harassment and caused him personal injury.  The conduct was such he also felt compelled to make a complaint to the police.  Notably, the court held that the dispute “inferentially” fell within the ambit of the collective agreement and therefore it had to be dealt with in an arbitration setting.

The B.C. Court of Appeal’s decision may be viewed at:
http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/ca/07/01/2007bcca0131.htm

For more information on this subject contact Alf Kempf at:
kempf@pushormitchell.com or (250) 869-1215