The NWT Supreme Court has denied a former Yellowknife firefighter’s request to overturn a tribunal decision denying him rehearing of a compensation claim related to workplace harassment.
In a ruling last week, Justice Karin Taylor found the workers’ compensation appeals tribunal was reasonable when it denied the man’s request for a time extension to seek a rehearing – months after the deadline had passed.
“I must give a significant amount of deference to the tribunal’s decision-making,” Taylor wrote. “The question is not whether I would make the same decision, but whether the decision falls within the range of reasonable outcomes available on the law and the facts”
The former firefighter and paramedic for the City of Yellowknife first filed a claim with the Workers’ Safety and Compensation Commission in September 2020, seeking compensation for a psychological injury related to workplace harassment.
It is uncontested that the man was harassed on four occasions in the workplace between December 2018 and June 2020.
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Court documents describe three instances in which a supervisor forced the man to wear bunker gear as punishment and, in one case, forced him to wear a wooden pager as punishment for three weeks. If the man was found without the wooden pager, he was required to run stairs or buy his co-workers energy drinks.
The compensation commission denied the man’s claim, concluding the incidents were labour relations issues and therefore not compensable. A review committee disagreed, finding in May 2022 that the man’s injury was the result of workplace harassment and he was entitled to compensation.
Following an appeal by the city, the workers’ compensation appeals tribunal overturned the review board’s decision in June 2023. While the tribunal agreed the man had developed a psychological disorder due to harassment, it did not find that entitled him to compensation.
The tribunal said “maladministration or arcane supervisory tactics” may be labour relations issues. The tribunal also found that, while being forced to unnecessarily wear bunker gear or carry a wooden pager was “grossly inappropriate and potentially humiliating,” it did not meet the definition of a traumatic event required for compensation.
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Under appeal tribunal rules, a party has six months after a decision to seek a rehearing.
Instead, the forming firefighter asked the NWT Supreme Court to review the tribunal’s decision. A judge subsequently denied that request in March 2024, finding that the man had prematurely gone to court before seeking a tribunal rehearing.
The man then applied to the tribunal for an extension to seek a rehearing in May 2024, a request the tribunal denied in August 2024.
The tribunal found granting the extension would cause prejudice to the city in the form of increased legal costs and ongoing uncertainty related to the outcome of the compensation claim.
The City of Yellowknife and the man’s lawyer did not return Cabin Radio’s requests for comment prior to publication.
