The following is a sampling of some of Patrick’s many previous cases that have been selected for publication in various legal reports (click on the name of the case to see the full decision).
Council of Unions / Collective Bargaining
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board concluded that the Bargaining Council of BC Building Trades Union had the authority to enter into a project collective agreement binding its member unions.
Bargaining Council of British Columbia Building Trades Unions -and- United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, Local No. 170 –and- Construction Labour Relations Association of British Columbia, BCLRB No. B91/2017, 5 C.L.R.B.R. (3d) 93 (leave for reconsideration denied, BCLRB No. B108/2017, C.L.R.B.R. (3d) 116)
Solicitor Client Privilege
In this decision a labour arbitrator granted the union’s application for production of documents that the employer claimed were exempt from disclosure on the basis of solicitor client privilege.
Labour Disputes / Bargaining in Bad Faith
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board dismissed an application by the employer alleging that the union had bargained in bad faith and was engaged in an illegal strike.
Damages for Mental Distress
In this labour arbitration the union was successful in obtaining rarely awarded damages for mental distress on behalf of a seriously ill worker who was wrongfully denied sick leave by the employer.
Fortis B.C. -and- International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 213 (Pearson Grievance), 2011 CanLII 53591 (BC LA), 210 L.A.C. (4th) 319 (Thompson)
Labour Disputes
In this case the union cancelled its voluntary recognition agreement with the employer in the midst of collective bargaining and all of the union’s members promptly ceased working for the employer. The employer alleged that the union was engaged in an illegal strike, but the BC Labour Relations Board accepted the union’s argument that its actions were permissible.
Bias
In this case the union succeeded in getting a vice chair of the BC Labour Relations Board to recuse himself from hearing an employer application during a labour dispute due to a reasonable apprehension of bias.
Labour Disputes / Unfair Labour Practices
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board found that the employer had committed an unfair labour practice by distributing Christmas gift cards and an anti-union letter to employees during a strike.
Human Rights
In this case before the BC Human Rights Tribunal, the Tribunal dismissed a complaint alleging that the content and application of the union’s Code of Ethics constituted discrimination contrary to the Human Rights Code.
Miller -and- British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, 2009 BCHRT 34, 66 C.H.R.R. D/112
Union Organizing / Unfair Labour Practices
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board granted the union the rare remedy of a remedial certification, after finding that the employer had committed intimidating and coercive unfair labour practices by meeting individually with employees and asking them who was behind the union’s organizing drive.
Islands West Manufacturers Ltd. -and- United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 1518, BCLRB No. B44/2008, 155 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 214 (leave for reconsideration denied BCLRB No. B141/2008, 159 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 63)
Labour Disputes
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board dismissed an employer application alleging that the union was engaged in an illegal strike when its members refused to work behind a picket line during a strike by another union.
Harassment Investigations
In this labour arbitration the arbitrator ordered production of a harassment investigation report sought by the union, rejecting most of the many conditions sought by the employer and its manager.
Labour Disputes / Replacement Workers
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board ordered the employer to cease and desist using replacement workers during a labour dispute.
Labour Disputes / Picketing and Allies
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board granted an application by the union for a declaration that another employer was an ally of a struck employer, permitting the union to picket the ally’s premises.
Westfair Foods Ltd. -and- United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 1518, BCLRB No. B88/2006, 122 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 210, (leave for reconsideration denied BCLRB No. B133/2006, 24 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 163)
Union Organizing / Unfair Labour Practices
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board found that the employer had violated the Labour Relations Code by disciplining union organizers, prohibiting the posting of union material in the workplace, and introducing a wage increase and profit sharing during a union organizing drive. The Board issued a remedial certification and ordered the employer to rescind the discipline, allow the posting of union material, and allow the union to hold regular employee meetings in the workplace.
Trevor J. Lowe Holdings Ltd. -and- United Food and Commercial Workers International Union, Local 1518, BCLRB No. B212/2005, 115 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 113 (leave for reconsideration denied BCLRB No. B50/2006, 122 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 155)
Union Organizing / Unfair Labour Practices
In this decision the BC Labour Relations Board granted the union various remedies for the employer’s unfair labour practices during a large union organizing campaign. These remedies included ordering the employer to pay the union’s previous organizing costs, provide the union with a list of names of all employees, distribute union organizing literature to all employees at the employer’s expense, and allow union organizers access to employer property for a three month period. The union’s organizing campaign was subsequently successful.
Union Organizing / Unfair Labour Practices
In this case a five member reconsideration panel of the BC Labour Relations Board overturned an earlier decision which had allowed the employer to subject employees to constant anti-union propaganda during a union organizing campaign.
RMH Teleservices International Inc. -and- British Columbia Government and Service Employees’ Union, BCLRB No. B188/2005, 114 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 128 (Leave for Reconsideration of BCLRB No. B345/2003, 100 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 95)
Union Organizing / Bargaining Unit Appropriateness
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board dismissed all of the employer’s various objections to the appropriateness of a bargaining unit that the union was seeking to certify.
Union Organizing / Certification Practice and Procedure
In this case an Industrial Relations Officer prepared a report for the BC Labour Relations Board that concluded the union lacked the necessary employee support to proceed with its certification application, which normally results in the dismissal of the application. However, the union successfully challenged the accuracy of the report and obtained disclosure of the tentative voters list and a payroll audit, which enabled the certification application to proceed.
Cardinal Transportation B.C. Inc.-and- Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 561, BCLRB No. B355/2004, 109 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 76 (leave for reconsideration denied BCLRB No. B96/2005, 112 C.L.R.B.R. (2d) 204)
Labour Disputes / Contempt of Court
In this BC Supreme Court case Patrick represented the union in a sentencing hearing for contempt of court for engaging in an illegal province-wide hospital strike.
Information and Privacy / Solicitor Client Privilege
In this pro bono case Patrick represented a woman who sought documents from the College of Physicians after its Sexual Misconduct Review Committee reviewed the documents and decided not to proceed with her complaint. The BC Court of Appeal concluded that the majority of the documents were not protected by solicitor client privilege as claimed by the College, but that they could be withheld under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act because they revealed advice to a public body.
Union Organizing / Unfair Labour Practices
In this case the BC Labour Relations Board granted the union a remedial certification after finding that the employer had engaged in the coercion and intimidation of a vulnerable immigrant workforce.
Injunctions
In this pro bono case in the BC Supreme Court, Patrick helped defend homeless squatters in the Downtown Eastside against an injunction application by the City of Vancouver.
Charter of Rights
In this decision the BC Court of Appeal dismissed the employer’s appeal of an arbitration award that found the employer’s mandatory retirement policy violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.