HomeMy WebLinkAbout2002-0474.Vangou.05-09-15 Decision
Crown Employees Commission de ~~
Grievance Settlement reglement des griefs
Board des employes de la
Couronne
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Suite 600 Bureau 600 Ontario
180 Dundas Sl. West 180 rue Dundas Ouest
Toronto Ontario M5G 1Z8 Toronto (Ontario) M5G 1Z8
Tel. (416) 326-1388 Tel. (416) 326-1388
Fax (416) 326-1396 Telec. (416) 326-1396
GSB# 2002-0474
UNION# 2001-0506-0001 2001-0506-0005
IN THE MATTER OF AN ARBITRATION
Under
THE CROWN EMPLOYEES COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ACT
Before
THE GRIEVANCE SETTLEMENT BOARD
BETWEEN
Ontano PublIc ServIce Employees Umon
(V angou) Union
- and -
The Crown In RIght of Ontano
(Mimstry of TransportatIOn) Employer
BEFORE Nimal V DIssanayake Vice-Chair
FOR THE UNION Hilary Cook
Gnevance Officer
Ontano PublIc ServIce Employees Umon
FOR THE EMPLOYER Sunee1 Bahal
Counsel
Management Board Secretanat
HEARING September 13 2005
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Order
Thls on-golng proceedlng lS about a grlevance flIed by
Ms Emma Vangou alleglng that the employer had
dlscrlmlnated agalnst her on the basls of her dlsablllty,
and harassed her because of her trade unlon actlvlty One
of the allegatlons lS that the employer acted In bad falth
agalnst the grlevor In relatlon to her bld to obtaln
employment wlth Serco Drlver Examlnatlon SerVlces Inc
(" Serco") to whom the drlver examlnatlon functlon had been
dlvested by the employer The unlon served a subpoena
duces tecum on an offlcer of Serco, requlrlng the
productlon of the notes taken by reference checkers
employed by Serco at the tlme they obtalned three
employment references for the grlevor over the telephone,
from three Mlnlstry supervlsors Serco obJected to the
subpoena through ltS own counsel, and ltS ob]ectlon was
supported by the employer The basls for the ob]ectlon was
that the notes wlth respect to the communlcatlons between
the reference checkers and reference glvers were
prlvlleged The Board heard eVldence and submlsslons on
thls ob]ectlon and lssued ltS declslon wlth reasons on
March 11, 2005 In essence, the Board ordered the
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productlon of "all notes and records of the references
provlded for the grlevor by the three reference glvers",
and attached condltlons to ensure confldentlallty except
for the purposes of thls proceedlng
Thls order relates to another subpoena duces tecum,
served by the unlon to Ms Lenore Thompson of Serco,
returnable at the hearlng on September 13 th , 2005 The
subpoena requlred her to produce, lnter alla, "Any past or
present contact lnformatlon for the lndlvlduals who checked
Ms Vangou's references" After belng sworn In, Ms
Thompson was asked If she had brought the lnformatlon set
out In the subpoena, speclflcally the contact lnformatlon
Ms Thompson replled that she had brought the contact
lnformatlon, but added that she would be prepared to
produce the lnformatlon to the unlon only pursuant to a
wrltten Board order requlrlng productlon She stated that
she had concerns about prlvacy lssues, and she was not sure
whether the reference checkers' testlmony lS relevant,
Slnce thelr notes had been already produced pursuant to the
Board's prevlous order I orally ordered that the
lnformatlon be produced, wlth an undertaklng to conflrm the
order In wrltlng as soon as posslble
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In my Vlew the unlon lS entltled to the productlon
The hand-wrltten short-form notes made by the reference
checkers are already In eVldence lS thls proceedlng If
the unlon so wlshes, It must at least have the opportunlty
to seek clarlflcatlon of the contents of those notes If
the unlon chooses to call any or all of the reference
checkers, and If they take lssue wlth the relevance and/or
admlsslblllty of any speclflc eVldence to be tendered
through them, those must be determlned at the tlme
Therefore, I hereby conflrm that Ms Thompson lS
ordered to produce to the unlon any past or present contact
lnformatlon for the lndlvlduals who checked Ms Vangou's
references
Dated thls 15th day of September, 2005 at Toronto, Ontarlo
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