Lee v. Royal Canadian Mounted Police et al., (2000) 184 F.T.R. 74 (TD)

• Judge: Campbell, J.
• Court: Federal Court (Canada)
• Case Date: May 16, 2000
• Jurisdiction: Canada (Federal)
• Citations: (2000), 184 F.T.R. 74 (TD)

Lee v. RCMP (2000), 184 F.T.R. 74 (TD)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2000] F.T.R. TBEd. JL.085

Robert Arthur Lee (applicant) v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and The Commissioner of The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, J.P.R. Murray (respondents)

(T-2181-99)

Indexed As: Lee v. Royal Canadian Mounted Police et al.

Federal Court of Canada

Trial Division

Campbell, J.

May 19, 2000.

Summary:

Lee held the rank of Corporal in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) when he pleaded guilty to two allegations of disgrace­ful conduct. As part of the sanction imposed by an Adjudicative Board, Lee was demoted to the rank of Constable. Lee appealed to the Commissioner of the RCMP. The Commis­sioner dismissed the appeal. Lee applied to set aside that part of the Commissioner's decision which confirmed the decision to demote him.

The Federal Court of Canada, Trial Divi­sion, dismissed the application.

Civil Rights - Topic 5502

Equality and protection of the law - Whether right to equality abridged - Lee, a Corporal in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), pleaded guilty to two allegations of disgraceful conduct - Before the Adjudicative Board, Lee called evi­dence to support his assertion that at the time of his conduct he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - As part of the sanction imposed by the Ad­judicative Board, Lee was demoted to the rank of Constable - The Commissioner of the RCMP dismissed an appeal - Lee applied to set aside that part of the Com­missioner's decision which confirmed the demotion, arguing that his equality rights under s. 15 of the Charter were offended because he was demoted because of his PSTD illness - The Federal Court of Cana­da, Trial Division, dismissed the ap­plication - The s. 15 argument was ground­less where there was no evidence that Lee suffered any differential treatment - See paragraphs 11 to 12.

Evidence - Topic 7002

Opinion evidence - Expert evidence - General - Acceptance, rejection and weight to be given to expert opinion - [See Police - Topic 4172 ].

Police - Topic 4169

Internal organization - Discipline - Appeals - Grounds - General - [See Police - Topic 4172 ].

Police - Topic 4172

Internal organization - Discipline - Appeals - Evidence - Lee, a Corporal in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), plead­ed guilty to two allegations of disgraceful conduct - While off duty, he had driven a police vehicle while impaired and had fled the scene of a police roadcheck and a subsequent accident - As part of the sanc­tion imposed by an Adjudicative Board, Lee was demoted to the rank of Constable - The Commissioner of the RCMP dis­missed an appeal - Lee applied to set aside that part of the Commissioner's decision which confirmed the demotion - He argued that the Commissioner's decision was patently unreasonable where the Commis­sioner found that post traumatic stress disorder "could have influenced" Lee's behaviour rather than finding that it "caused" the misconduct as was expressed in the medical opinion before the Ad­judication Board - The Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, dismissed the application - The Commissioner was en­titled to assign weight to the expert opin­ion on the record - See paragraphs 9 to 10.

Cases Noticed:

Millard v. Canada (Attorney General) (2000), 253 N.R. 187 (F.C.A.), refd to. [para. 8].

Counsel:

Catherine Crockett, for the applicant;

Jack Wright, for the respondents.

Solicitors of Record:

Karen F. Nordlinger & Associates, Van­couver, British Columbia, for the ap­plicant;

Morris Rosenberg, Deputy Attorney Gen­eral of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, for the respondents.

This application was heard on May 16, 2000, at Vancouver, British Columbia, be­fore Campbell, J., of the Federal Court of Canada, Trial Division, who delivered the following decision on May 19, 2000.