B LAW402 Lecture Notes - Wildfire Suppression, Fide, Determinative

• School: University of Alberta
• Department: Business Law
• Course: B LAW402
• Professor: Elaine Geddes

Document Summary

British columbia (public service employee relations commission) v. bcgseu (meiorin) The british columbia government established minimum physical fitness standards for its forest firefighters. One of the standards was an aerobic standard. The claimant, a female firefighter who had in the past performed her work satisfactorily, failed to meet the aerobic standard after four attempts and was dismissed. The claimant"s union brought a grievance on her behalf. No credible evidence showed that the prescribed aerobic capacity was necessary for either men or women to perform the work of a forest firefighter safely and efficiently. The arbitrator found that the claimant had established a prima facie case of adverse effect discrimination and that the government had not discharged its burden of showing that it had accommodated the claimant to the point of undue hardship. The court of appeal allowed an appeal from that decision. The narrow issue here was whether the government improperly dismissed the claimant.