Digests

Lloyd's Register North America Inc. v. Dalziel

T-1892-02

2004 FC 822, Snider J.

9/6/04

31 pp.

Applicant wholly owned subsidiary of, and successor in interest in Canada to, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, ancient, international marine classification society whose operations in Canada it has assumed and continued--Respondent claiming constructive dismissal from employment with Lloyd's as marine surveyor--In response to referral of complaint to adjudication under Canada Labour Code, s. 240, applicant contended not subject to federal labour law and therefore adjudicator without jurisdiction to adjudicate complaint-- Adjudicator concluded applicant provided services close to "heart" of shipping and must "be within exceptional class of activities that fall within federal jurisdiction as a matter integral to the federally regulated matter of shipping" and dismissed objection to jurisdiction--Applicant seeking judicial review of decision--Whether adjudicator erred in determining "classification by Lloyd's Register and all that the relationship entails" integral to federally regulated matter of shipping and, thus, subject to federal employment law--At issue nature of work performed by applicant and whether work sufficiently integrated with core undertaking (shipping) to sweep its employees into federal jurisdiction--Collectively, employees of applicant spend at least 80% of their time carrying out two different, but complementary, functions: (1) functions of classification society; (2) mandatory inspections on behalf of Canadian Government pursuant to provisions of Canada Shipping Act--Review of principles applicable to question of jurisdiction--Neither occurrence of work on federally owned land nor proportion of work performed by company in connection with federal undertaking determinative in assessing jurisdiction--Further, Canada Labour Code "should not be construed to apply to employees who are employed at remote stages, but only to those whose work is intimately connected with the work, undertaking or business" --Continuous or ongoing relationship with federal underta-king evidence of intimate connection to it--Applicant submitting adjudicator erred in applying principles expressed by Supreme Court of Canada in Reference re Industrial Relations and Disputes Act, [1955] S.C.R. 529 (Stevedoring Reference), Northern Telecom Ltd. v. Communications Workers of Canada, [1980] 1 S.C.R. 115 (Northern Telecom), and Letter Carriers' Union of Canada v. Canadian Union of Postal Workers, [1975] 1 S.C.R. 178 (Letter Carriers case)-- Applicant distinguishing these cases based on physical nature of employees' activities, unlike applicant's services which have nothing to do with contract of carriage of ships-- Applicant analogizing work performed by Lloyd's to audit or insurance function--Physical nature or labour intensity of service not decisive indicator of integration--Trilogy of cases helpful in establishing overarching principles--Federal jurisdiction will only be found in exceptional circumstances of integral or essential link between services provided by contractor and federal work or undertaking--Cases not standing for proposition that, unless activities in question part of physical operation of federal work, there can be no federal jurisdiction--Adjudicator not erring in application of relevant case law to work of applicant--Whether applicant's activities go beyond "mutually beneficial commercial relationship"-- Chief Justice Dickson, in United Transportation Union v. Central Western Railway Corp., [1990] 3 S.C.R. 1112, stated that "something more than physical connection and a mutually beneficial commercial relationship with a federal work or undertaking is required for a company to fall under federal jurisdiction--Applicant arguing Adjudicator erred by concluding Lloyd's Register and its employees have much more than physical connection and beneficial relationship to shipping--Simply providing service to federal undertaking not sweeping service provider into federal sphere of competence --Unique role of shipping in case law involving constitutional division of powers considered--If Lloyd's surveyors not governed by federal labour codes would be governed by provincial codes--But uniform standards and regulation of classification of ships highly desirable as well as consistent with body of Canadian law in this area--Illogical to find classification in Canada may proceed on purely local level or that somehow not integral to shipping in Canada, especially when one considers Canada acceded to many of relevant international conventions dealing with shipping standards-- Internationally shipping exists in present form largely as result of role of classification societies--Applicant cooperative partner in this worldwide venture thus reinforcing not operating as wholly local enterprise--Adjudicator correctly holding role of applicant extending beyond physical connection and mutually beneficial commercial relationship-- Canada Shipping Act delegating certain inspection functions to applicant--Work applicant does under this statute direct regulatory function--No examples provided of other undertakings that had been delegated federal regulatory functions where business performing function retained local, provincial nature--Adjudicator may have overstated point when said this relationship "would be a powerful indicator by itself of federal jurisdiction"--However, this comment not particularly material since delegation not only indicator-- Considering all aspects of functions performed by applicant, nature of work integral to shipping and thus, properly within jurisdiction of federal Parliament--Delegation under Canada Shipping Act another indicator of strength of that relationship --Application dismissed--Canada Labour Code, R.S.C., 1985, c. L-1, s. 240 (as am. by R.S.C., 1985 (1st Supp.), c. 9, s. 15)--Canada Shipping Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. S-9.