Case Law Update: Brown V. University Of Windsor (2016 Onca 431)

The Ontario Court of Appeal has recently determined that in a unionized workplace, a dispute about whether the employer has complied with its obligations under the Employment Insurance Premium Reduction Program under the Employment Insurance Act, must be determined by an arbitrator appointed under the collective agreement, and not by a court.

This decision reinforces the now well-developed jurisprudence with respect to the exclusive jurisdiction of a labour arbitrator to interpret employment statutes (notably Weber v. Ontario Hydro, 1995 CanLII 108 (SCC), [1995] 2 S.C.R. 929, and Parry Sound (District) Social Services Administration Board v. OPSEU Local 324, 2003 SCC 42 (CanLII), [2003] 2 S.C.R. 157), and it also overturns existing jurisprudence with respect to the Employment Insurance Premium Reduction Program. Previous court and arbitrator decisions in Ontario had determined that court actions could be brought in disputes about an employer's administration of the