‘Full and final’ settlement agreement makes worker’s subsequent claim an abuse of process: tribunal
“The default perspective of a court or tribunal considering finality [from a settlement agreement] will be that the case was settled and cannot be reopened.”
So says employment lawyer Rich Appiah of Appiah Law in Toronto, after the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal dismissed a worker’s human rights application that followed a settlement the worker and her employer signed that purported to resolve grievances and a previous human rights application.
The worker was an employee of the City of Hamilton who filed two grievances against the city. She also filed a human rights application in March 2019 alleging discrimination in employment because of disability. The tribunal deferred the application until the grievances were resolved, as they covered essentially the same issues.
On Oct. 11, 2019, the city and the union met with a mediator. The mediation led to a settlement agreement for the grievances and the human rights application. The worker, the union, and city representatives all signed the minutes of settlement.
The minutes of settlement were sweeping in scope, stating that the worker agreed to resign from her employment in exchange for a salary continuance until Dec. 31, 2020, the withdrawal of the grievances, and the withdrawal of the human rights application. The document also confirmed that the payments paid by the city to the worker were “...
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