The Alberta Court of Appeal holds that the Dispute Resolution and Decision Review Body of the Workers’ Compensation Board has the jurisdiction to reconsider its own decisions

28. June 2011 0
Administrative law – Workers Compensation Boards – Disability – Jurisdiction – Appeals Watson v. Alberta (Workers’ Compensation Board), [2011] A.J. No. 450, 2011 ABCA 127, Alberta Court of Appeal, May 3, 2011, J.E.L. Cote, J.D.B. McDonald JJ.A. and G.A. Verville J. In March 1999, the respondent, Patricia Watson, filed a claim with the Workers’ Compensation ...

The Court of Appeal holds that the Claims Service Review Committee of the Workers’ Compensation Board has the jurisdiction to rescind its own decision in the face of a conflicting decision from the Appeals Commission

28. June 2011 0
Administrative law – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers Compensation Appeals Commission Lee v. Alberta (Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers’ Compensation), [2011] A.J. No. 451, 2011 ABCA 128, Alberta Court of Appeal, May 3, 2011, Sharlow, Layden-Stevenson and Stratas JJ.A. The respondent, Kim Lee, was injured at work in 1994. Throughout 1994 and 2002 the internal ...

The Alberta Court of Appeal overturned the chambers judge’s decision dismissing the appellant’s application for judicial review of the Respondent’s decision denying her health benefits. The court of appeal held that the Respondent’s decision did not properly explain its reasons for preferring certain medical evidence over others, and therefore lacked transparency, and intelligibility and was unreasonable.

26. April 2011 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Benefits – Psychological injury – employment related – Evidence – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter – Correctness Sharif v. Alberta (Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers’ Compensation), [2011] A.J. No. 206, 2011 ABCA 75, Alberta Court of Appeal, March 4, 2011, E.I. Picard, ...

The Appellant (the Workers’ Compensation Board) successfully appealed a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal (“WCAT”). The WCAT had allowed a claim for compensation made by the Respondent (Ms. Cormier) but its decision was found to disclose a reasonable apprehension of bias.

22. February 2011 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers Compensation – Benefits – Judicial review – Bias – Evidence – Standard of review – Correctness Prince Edward Island (Workers’ Compensation Board) v. Cormier, [2011] P.E.I.J. No. 2, 2011 PECA 1, Prince Edward Island Court of Appeal, January 7, 2011, D.H. Jenkins ...

The Appellants (the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal and the Workers’ Compensation Board) successfully appealed a decision of the Supreme Court, which had remitted Mr. Kerton’s matter (a request for an extension of time to file an appeal) back to the Tribunal for reconsideration

22. February 2011 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Benefits – Judicial review – Appeals – Leave to appeal – Limitations – Extension of time – Compliance with legislation – Privative clauses – Jurisdiction – Delay – Standard of review – Patent unreasonableness Kerton v. British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal), [2011] ...

The Public Guardian and Trustee (“PGT”) brought a petition against the Workers Compensation Board (“WCB”) and put forward a series of questions respecting the jurisdiction of the Court to exercise its parens patriae jurisdiction in relation to any “excess”, as per s.10(6) of the Workers Compensation Act R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 492 (“WCA”), recovered by the WCB in a subrogated claim relating to an infant. The Court found that the Court’s parens patriae jurisdiction did not apply in this case.

23. November 2010 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Benefits – Subrogated actions – Judicial review – Jurisdiction – Compliance with legislation – Jurisdiction of court – Protection matters – Children British Columbia (Public Guardian and Trustee of) v. British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Board), [2010] B.C.J. No. 2058, 2010 BCSC 1486, British ...

The proper approach to statutory interpretation is that the words of an Act are to be read in their entire context and in their ordinary sense harmoniously with the scheme of the Act, the object of the Act, and the intention of Parliament. The decision that the Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation Commission (the “Commission”) made in this case was unreasonable on the basis that Commission, through the decision of the Internal Review Specialist, sought to discover the intention of the Commission, as opposed to the Legislature.

28. September 2010 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers Compensation – Benefits – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Statutory interpretation – Legislation – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter Warford v. Weir’s Construction Ltd., [2010] N.J. No. 249, 2010 NLTD(G) 130, Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court, August 9, 2010, ...

Refusing to grant an injured worker (“Johnson”) the opportunity to cross-examine medical witnesses on a Workers’ Compensation Board (“WCB”) disability benefits determination was held to be a denial of procedural fairness and natural justice

27. July 2010 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers Compensation – Benefits – Judicial review – Procedural requirements and fairness – Natural justice – Witnesses Johnson v. Alberta (Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers’ Compensation), [2010] A.J. No. 663, 2010 ABQB 393, Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench, June 9, 2010, K. G. ...

The court upheld a decision of the Appeals Commission of the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board that an equipment operator who answered a personal call from his daughter after her car went off the road was acting in the course of his employment

22. June 2010 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Workers Compensation Boards – Workers Compensation – Worker, defined – In and out of the course of employment – Personal time – Judicial review – Standard of review – Reasonableness simpliciter Pontes Estate v. Alberta (Appeals Commission for Alberta Workers’ Compensation), [2010] A.J. No. 487, 2010 ABQB ...

The appeal by workers from a decision quashing a Human Rights Tribunal’s decision to proceed with their human rights complaint was allowed where the Court held that the Tribunal’s decision to proceed was discretionary and was not patently unreasonable

27. April 2010 0
Administrative law – Decisions of administrative tribunals – Human Rights Tribunal – Workers Compensation Boards – Discretion of tribunal – Workers compensation – Benefits – Policies – Validity and application of policies – Human rights complaints – Disability – Discrimination – Judicial review – Compliance with legislation – Jurisdiction of tribunal – Standard of review ...