Thomson v. University of Alberta, 2014 ABQB 434

• Judge: Shelley, J.
• Court: Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta (Canada)
• Case Date: May 14, 2014
• Citations: 2014 ABQB 434;(2014), 591 A.R. 380 (QB)

Thomson v. Univ. of Alta. (2014), 591 A.R. 380 (QB)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2014] A.R. TBEd. JL.072

Alan Thomson (plaintiff/respondent) v. The Governors of the University of Alberta (defendant/applicant)

(1203 01790; 2014 ABQB 434)

Indexed As: Thomson v. University of Alberta

Alberta Court of Queen's Bench

Judicial District of Edmonton

Shelley, J.

July 14, 2014.

Summary:

Thomson, an academic staff member, sued the University of Alberta, alleging constructive dismissal. He applied for production of a letter prepared during the grievance process which preceded the litigation.

A Master of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, in a decision reported (2013), 557 A.R. 388, dismissed the application. Thomson appealed.

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, in a decision reported (2013), 560 A.R. 1, allowed the appeal and the application for production of a full copy of the letter, along with its attachments. The University appealed.

The Alberta Court of Appeal, in a decision reported (2013), 561 A.R. 391; 594 W.A.C. 391, allowed the appeal and set aside the order for production of the letter. The University thereafter applied to strike the statement of claim (Alberta Rules of Court, rule 3.68), on the basis that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the claims relating to Thomson's employment.

The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench allowed the application.

Education - Topic 4421

Universities - Professors - Wrongful dismissal - General - [See first and second Education - Topic 4582 ].

Education - Topic 4582

Universities - Actions against universities - Jurisdiction - Thomson, an academic staff member, sued the University of Alberta, seeking remedies for constructive dismissal - The University applied to strike the statement of claim (Alberta Rules of Court, rule 3.68), on the basis that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the claims relating to Thomson's employment - The University submitted that Thomson's employment was governed by a collective agreement (i.e., the Faculty Agreement), which provided an exclusive forum for the resolution of all disputes raised in the statement of claim - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench allowed the application and struck the pleading - The essential nature of the dispute was covered by the Faculty Agreement and the dispute had to be resolved through the comprehensive grievance and arbitration procedures therein - The dispute resolution procedures under the Faculty Agreement provided effective remedies for Thompson's allegations - See paragraphs 47 to 94.

Education - Topic 4582

Universities - Actions against universities - Jurisdiction - At issue was whether the legislative intent of the Post-secondary Learning Act (PSLA) was to exclude the court's jurisdiction in providing a remedy for a tenured university professor who was allegedly constructively dismissed by the University of Alberta - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench held that the fact that "dismissal" was not expressly included in s. 87(3) of the PSLA did not inevitably lead to the conclusion that the Legislature intended to exclude that matter, which was inseparable from the whole employment relationship, from the ambit of the legislative provision regarding universities - Nor did the lack of its explicit mention demonstrate that the Legislature intended to forbid or prevent parties from including that matter in a collective agreement between them - The language of s. 87(3) was not ambiguous - It broadly covered "dismissal" as a matter that related to employment of academic staff members of a university - Therefore, generally, circumstances of dismissal were not excluded from the matters that were subject to the collective agreement in regard to universities - See paragraphs 25 to 40.

Education - Topic 4582

Universities - Actions against universities - Jurisdiction - At issue was whether the Post-secondary Learning Act (PSLA) and a University of Alberta Faculty Agreement established a dispute resolution procedure that had to be followed (i.e., an exclusive jurisdiction model), and not duplicated or undermined by concurrent court action - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench concluded that the PSLA granted exclusive jurisdiction to the dispute resolution procedures under the Faculty Agreement - See paragraphs 41 to 46.

Labour Law - Topic 6906

Industrial relations - Collective agreement - Civil action - Jurisdiction - [See first Education - Topic 4582 ].

Labour Law - Topic 7205

Industrial relations - Collective agreement - Enforcement - Civil action - Jurisdiction - [See first Education - Topic 4582 ].

Practice - Topic 2241

Pleadings - Striking out pleadings - Grounds - Lack of jurisdiction - [See first Education - Topic 4582 ].

Words and Phrases

At least - The Alberta Court of Queen's Bench discussed the meaning of this phrase as it was used in s. 87 of the Post-secondary Learning Act, S.A. 2003, c. P-19 - See paragraph 28.

Cases Noticed:

Cerny v. Canadian Industries Ltd., [1972] 6 W.W.R. 88; 30 D.L.R.(3d) 462 (Alta. C.A.), refd to. [para. 12].

Hunt v. T & N plc et al., [1990] 2 S.C.R. 959; 117 N.R. 321; 74 D.L.R.(4th) 321, refd to. [para. 12].

Hunt v. Carey Canada Inc. - see Hunt v. T & N plc et al.

Beaulieu v. University of Alberta et al., [2013] A.R. Uned. 409; 2013 ABQB 237, refd to. [para. 12].

Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse (Que.) v. Quebec (Attorney General) et al., [2004] 2 S.C.R. 185; 321 N.R. 290; 2004 SCC 39, refd to. [para. 14].

Balancing Pool v. TransAlta Corp. (2013), 566 A.R. 116; 597 W.A.C. 116; 2013 ABCA 409, refd to. [para. 17].

Ordon et al. v. Grail, [1998] 3 S.C.R. 437; 232 N.R. 201; 115 O.A.C. 1, refd to. [para. 17].

Beaulieu v. University of Alberta et al. (2014), 575 A.R. 24; 612 W.A.C. 24; 2014 ABCA 137, refd to. [para. 24].

Castillo v. Castillo, [2005] 3 S.C.R. 870; 343 N.R. 144; 376 A.R. 224; 360 W.A.C. 224; 2005 SCC 83, ref to. [para. 26].

Tottrup et al. v. Clearwater No. 99 (Municipal District) (2006), 401 A.R. 88; 391 W.A.C. 88; 2006 ABCA 380, refd to. [para. 27].

Medicine Hat (City) et al. v. Wilson et al. (2000), 271 A.R. 96; 234 W.A.C. 96; 2000 ABCA 247, refd to. [para. 27].

Transportation-Communication Employees Union v. Union Pacific Railroad Co. (1966), 385 U.S. 157, refd to. [para. 32].

65302 British Columbia Ltd. v. Minister of National Revenue, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 804; 248 N.R. 216; 179 D.L.R.(4th) 577, refd to. [para. 34].

Weber v. Ontario Hydro, [1995] 2 S.C.R. 929; 183 N.R. 241; 82 O.A.C. 321; 125 D.L.R.(4th) 583, refd to. [para. 42].

Wanke v. University of Calgary, [2011] A.R. Uned. 354; 2011 ABCA 235, refd to. [para. 43].

Pratt v. University of Lethbridge et al. (2001), 281 A.R. 393; 248 W.A.C. 393; 2001 ABCA 134, refd to. [para. 43].

James v. Northern Lakes College et al. (2013), 566 A.R. 20; 597 W.A.C. 20; 2013 ABCA 408, affing. (2012), 543 A.R. 22; 2012 ABQB 588, refd to. [para. 43].

Tulip v. University of Alberta, [2014] A.R. Uned. 131; 2014 ABQB 67 (Master), refd to. [para. 44].

University of Alberta v. Nowrouzian et al. (2005), 381 A.R. 156; 2005 ABQB 454, refd to. [para. 44].

New Brunswick v. O'Leary, [1995] 2 S.C.R. 967; 183 N.R. 229; 163 N.B.R.(2d) 97; 419 A.P.R. 97, refd to. [para. 52].

St. Anne-Nackawic Pulp & Paper Co. v. Canadian Paper Workers Union, Local 219, [1986] 1 S.C.R. 704; 68 N.R. 112; 73 N.B.R.(2d) 236; 184 A.P.R. 236, refd to. [para. 54].

Young Estate et al. v. TransAlta Utilities Corp. et al. (1997), 209 A.R. 89; 160 W.A.C. 89; 1997 ABCA 349, refd to. [para. 54].

Granter v. Hood Packaging Corp. (2008), 438 A.R. 339; 2008 ABQB 198 (Master), refd to. [para. 63].

Bisaillon v. Concordia University, [2006] 1 S.C.R. 666; 348 N.R. 201; 2006 SCC 19, refd to. [para. 65].

Kniss v. Elliott et al. (2014), 569 A.R. 321; 606 W.A.C. 321; 2014 ABCA 73, refd to. [para. 65].

Giesbrecht v. McNeilly et al. (2008), 225 Man.R.(2d) 223; 419 W.A.C. 223; 291 D.L.R.(4th) 88; 2008 MBCA 22, refd to. [para. 80].

Hay River Health and Social Services Authority v. Public Service Alliance of Canada (2010), 201 L.A.C.(4th) 345, refd to. [para. 90].

Ontario Public Service Employees Union v. Ontario (2010), 194 L.A.C.(4th) 381, refd to. [para. 90].

Statutes Noticed:

Model Provisions Regulation - see Post-secondary Learning Act Regulations (Alta.).

Post-secondary Learning Act, S.A. 2003, c. P-19, sect. 87 [para. 13].

Post-secondary Learning Act Regulations (Alta.), Model Provisions Regulation, sect. 2 [para. 22].

Rules of Court (Alta.), rule 3.68 [para. 13].

Authors and Works Noticed:

Alberta, Hansard, Legislative Assembly, 3rd Sess., 25th Legislature (November 25, 2003), pp. 1878 to 1879 [para. 30].

Brown, Donald J.M., and Beatty, David M., Canadian Labour Arbitration (4th Ed. 2006), pp. 2:1500, 2:1503 to 2:1507, 2:1514 [para. 90].

Hansard (Alta.) - see Alberta, Hansard, Legislative Assembly.

Sullivan, Ruth, Sullivan on the Construction of Statutes (5th Ed. 2008), pp. 244 to 248 [para. 17].

Yogis, John A., Canadian Law Dictionary (1983), p. 184 [para. 53].

Counsel:

Daniel W. Hagg, Q.C. (Daniel W. Hagg Professional Corporation), for the plaintiff;

Kevin S. Feth, Q.C. (Field LLP), for the defendant.

This application was heard on May 14, 2014, before Shelley, J., of the Alberta Court of Queen's Bench, Judicial District of Edmonton, who delivered the following decision on July 14, 2014.