Grievance Case Summary - G-626

In September 2009, an advertisement for the position that the Grievor held in an acting capacity for four years was published. The Grievor applied to obtain the position on a permanent basis. In October 2009, the Grievor was screened out because he did not meet the linguistic profile of the position. The Grievor filed a request for intervention in accordance with the Commissioner's Standing Orders (Orders) (Dispute Resolution Process for Promotions and Job Requirements). One of the purposes of this request was the linguistic profile assigned to the position sought.

The Adjudicator for promotion disputes refused to deal with the linguistic profile issue because in her view it fell under a grievance adjudicator. The Adjudicator asked the Office for the Coordination of Grievances to open a grievance case on the issue and it was sent to a grievance adjudicator. The Grievance Adjudicator indicated that she could not consider the grievance because no grievance form was filed by the Grievor and there was nothing on record to show the Grievor's willingness to proceed through the grievance process. The Grievor filled out a grievance form to contest this decision at Level II.

The ERC found that the file should not have been referred to it because no grievance form was filed at Level I to start the grievance process. Accordingly, the file does not constitute a grievance under the Commissioner's Standing Orders (Grievances). Subsequently, for a grievance to proceed to Level II, a decision on the merits is required. No decision resolving the linguistic profile issue was rendered in this case.

The file is not referable to the ERC. As a result, the ERC does not have the legal authority to review the matter or make any findings or recommendations.

The Commissioner agreed that the grievance was not referable to the ERC and sent the grievance to the appropriate Level II decision-maker.