Canada ( Attorney General ) v. Green
T-953-98
Rouleau J.
22/12/99
7 pp.
Application for judicial review of PSSRB decision allowing grievance in part, ordering reinstatement of respondent and substituting periods of suspension and of leave without pay for that of dismissal-Application allowed-Although grievance arbitrator has wide discretion with respect to evidence and procedure, power not absolute and subject to rules of natural justice-Adjudicator may not disregard or unduly limit presentation of relevant evi dence-Adjudicator herein required to provide parties with opportunity to be heard on issue of appropriate penalty remitted by Cullen J. to adjudicator-Adjudicator's refusal to allow employer to call witnesses to give evidence relevant to issue of penalty and refusal to consider earlier decision on other grievance by respondent, also relevant to question of penalty, constituted denial of employer's right to be heard-Furthermore, Adjudicator manifestly relied on employer's failure to adduce evidence disputing existence of respondent's "unblemished" disciplinary record in concluding penalty too hard-Clearly error on Adjudicator's part-Tribunal cannot refuse to entertain evidence and then rely on its absence as reason for decision-By refusing to allow applicant to tender earlier adjudicator's decision as evidence of respondent's past misconduct and to dispute respondent's assertion of his unblemished record, Adjudicator not only breached rules of natural justice by denying employer opportunity to be heard, also ignored available evidence directly relevant to issue before him.