by Rhonda B. Levy and Douglas Sanderson of Littler
In Northern Regional Health Authority v. Horrocks, 2021 SCC 42, (NHRA) a six-member majority of the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) decided that in Manitoba, human rights disputes arising from the interpretation, application, or alleged violation of a collective agreement (CA) fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of a labour arbitrator. As a result, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission (MHRC) lacks concurrent jurisdiction to consider such disputes.
The employee worked for the NHRA (the employer) in Manitoba. Because the employee was a member of the employer’s union, the terms and conditions of employment were governed by the CA between the employer and the union. In 2011, the employee was suspended from her employment after she attended work under the influence of alcohol. She disclosed to her employer that she had an addiction to alcohol, which is a disability under Manitoba’s The Human Rights Code (HRC). The HRC prohibits discrimination in employment based on disability.
The employer presented the employee with a “last chance agreement” (LCA), which required her to abstain from alcohol and participate in addiction treatment. When the employee refused to enter into the LCA, the employer terminated her employment. The union filed a grievance in relation to the employee’s termination and she was reinstated after she agreed to enter into an abstinence agreement, the terms of which were substantially similar to...
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