Labour Board throws out complaint from SD57 educational assistant

The BC Labour Relations Board has thrown out a complaint from an educational assistant against the Prince George School District and local CUPE chapter.

Janet Morgan-Rosen claimed the School District was bullying her by placing a previously pulled disciplinary letter (letter of expectation) in her permanent file. The letter was issued by a previous principal who she had an “uneasy” working relationship with, and was promised to not be filed on her personal record.

While checking her personal record two years later in July 2015, Morgan-Rosen was “shocked/mortified” to find the letter of expectation on file. She contacted her union, CUPE 3742 immediately.

The Union then filed a pair of grievances; one for the placement of the letter in the personal file and another alleging that the placement of the letter in the file amounted to harassment.

At a meeting between the union and SD57 in early 2016, the District explained that the letter had been mistakenly included in Morgan-Rosen’s personal file during routine housekeeping. The letter had already been removed and CUPE 3742 accepted the explanation and withdrew the harassment complaint.

Morgan-Rosen was unsatisfied with the decision and emailed the union president in February and March of 2016, stating she was “feeling unsupported”, asking how they could “drop this grievance without a fight?”

The Union President responded in a letter stating that the letter was a mistake and “the local must recognize the employer’s right to manage and direct the worksite.”

Morgan-Rosen’s complaint to the Labour Relations Board under Section 12 of the Workers Compensation Act claims CUPE 3742 failed their duty of fair representation by accepting the School District’s explanation and withdrawing the grievance.

But in her decision, Vice Chair of the Labour Relations Board, Jennifer Glougie, stated that “even under close scrutiny, the evidence fails to establish the Union’s conduct was arbitrary”, pointing out that the union has the right to decide what grievances with be sent to arbitration. She added that Morgan-Rosen’s employment and seniority has been unaffected by the process.

As a result, the complaint was dismissed.