A worker who filed a safety-reprisal complaint 2.5 years after the events complained about has had his complaint dismissed for delay.
The worker’s complaint related to events that took place in June of 2013. He admitted that he had not been disciplined in respect of those events but said that he still may be.
The Ontario Labour Relations Board dismissed his complaint due to delay, stating that 2.5 years was an unreasonable delay “by any measure”. Further, since the employee had not yet been disciplined, his complaint was premature. In addition, the employee had agreed to his reassignment to a new location so he could not now complain that the reassignment was punishment for raising safety issues.
There is no “limitation period” for filing a complaint with the OLRB claiming reprisal for raising safety issues, but this decision shows that the OLRB will nevertheless throw out complaints that are filed too late.
John Nahirny v Liquor Control Board of Ontario, 2016 CanLII 88256 (ON LRB)
