Ontario Labour Relations Board Comments On Appropriate Workplace Investigators

Employer discretion in managing the process through which workplace harassment and violence allegations are investigated can be crucial to ensuring that employers can manage costs and limit workplace interruption while adhering to legal obligations and ensuring that such incidents are addressed with appropriate severity.

The Ontario Labour Relations Board ("Board") has now confirmed that employers have broad discretion in choosing workplace investigators to investigate complaints under the Occupational Health and Safety Act ("OHSA"). In Erin MacKenzie v Orkestra SCS Inc., the applicant employee argued that the workplace investigators appointed by the employer to investigate her harassment complaint were not qualified for the job. The Board dismissed the application and found that the employee was required to let the investigation run its course before alleging the investigators were inadequate.