2010 August 23

Billingsley v Communication, Energy and Paperworkers, Union Local No. 481, 2010 SKQB 297

The Saskatchewan Court of Queen’s Bench dismissed a motion by the defendant union and by individual union members for an order striking out damages claims by the plaintiffs (all executive or elected council members of the Saskatchewan Government and General Employees Union) over allegedly defamatory allegations published on a website. The defence unsuccessfully submitted that a collective agreement in force between the defendants and the plaintiffs’ employer, which contained an arbitration clause, deprived the Court of jurisdiction to hear the plaintiffs’ defamation claims. The Court held that the dispute did not arise under the collective agreement and the arbitration clause did not apply to deprive the court of jurisdiction.