IRE244, Winter 2022 – ARBITRATION ASSIGNMENT

DUE DATE: March 31, 2022, 6:00 pm

At pages 3-6 you will find case information with the facts describing the events that took place surrounding the termination of Charlotte Belasco from her employment with Clarion Technologies on January 18, 2022.

INSTRUCTIONS: Determine which party your group/team will be representing (i.e. the employer, Clarion Technologies or the union, the Canadian Technology Workers Union (CTWU).

CTWU/Union Teams: Teams 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19

Clarion Technologies/Management Teams: Teams 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20

Using the case information (pages 3-6), our guide to commentary on labour arbitration decisions (Canadian Labour Arbitration, aka “Brown and Beatty” see details in separate document entitled “Arbitration Research Guide”) and selected arbitration decisions from previous arbitration cases, your task is to develop a written argument to persuade the arbitrator to rule in your party’s favour.

For the employer side, this means convincing the Arbitrator that the termination was warranted, and that the grievance should therefore be dismissed.

For the union side, this means convincing the Arbitrator that the grievance should be upheld and that therefore the grievor should receive no discipline or that the grievance should be partially upheld and that therefore some lesser form of discipline than termination should be substituted by the Arbitrator.

In addition to making persuasive arguments in your party’s favour, be sure to both anticipate and argue against the arguments that your opponent is likely to make. In other words, you should not only try to convince the arbitrator why you should win, you should also try to convince the arbitrator why the other side should lose. Make sure to be clear about what you suggest the arbitrator should direct upon deciding the case (i.e. should Charlotte’s termination be maintained, should Charlotte’s termination be overturned, or should she receive some lesser discipline?).

Assume the arbitrator is fully familiar with the facts of the case and that these facts are not in dispute. You can make references to those facts in your document, but do not include in your document a lengthy “facts” section or a detailed review of the basic facts of the case.

Your written submission must include your party’s key arguments, your party’s rationale for its argument (referring to relevant arbitral principles), and references to precedent cases that support your position (relevant arbitral jurisprudence – a minimum of two (2) precedent cases). It should be accompanied by a separate reference page listing the citations for your chosen precedent cases and a citation for any other sources used (e. g. Canadian Labour Arbitration, known colloquially as ‘Brown and Beatty’).

FORMAT REQUIREMENTS:

• up to 12 double-spaced, numbered pages with 1-inch margins (the cover page and references pages are NOT included in the page limit).

• Use 12-point font size.

• Include the names and student numbers of all group/team members on the cover page.

• On the cover page, clearly state which party your group/team is representing and your group/team number.

• Use headings and sub-headings where appropriate.

MARKING CRITERIA: Papers will be marked according to the completeness of your arguments in terms of your labour relations and legal stances and anticipating those of your opposing party, the clarity of your arguments, use of appropriate arbitral principles and precedent case references, and the professionalism of the paper (grammar, spelling, flow, logical consistency, etc.).

Remember to focus on:

· Selecting relevant facts to support your case

· Referring to relevant arbitral principles

· Anticipating your opponent’s position

· Persuasion and clarity of your argument

· Applying relevant precedent cases to your argument

· Format and presentation/organization

· Spelling, grammar, quality of writing.

Please note that a penalty of 10 percentage points will be applied to papers that exceed the page limit or do not follow the format requirements.

Reference page:

Here is how to list precedent case citations on your reference page:

B.C.G.E.U. v. Interior Roads Ltd., (2003), 123 L.A.C. (4th) 171 (Jackson) 

Here is how to cite other sources on your reference page, including sources such as ‘Brown and Beatty’.

Brown, D.J.M., & Beatty, D.M. (Eds.) Canadian Labour Arbitration. 4th ed. , Canada Law Book, Retrieved from

INFORMATION ON THE CASE OF ‘BELASCO VERSUS CLARION TECHNOLOGIES’

Clarion Technologies is a call centre operating in Belleville, Ontario. The company employs 400 employees in total; 340 are hourly employees who work in the centre. The 340 call centre employees are unionized and are represented by the Canadian Technology Workers Union (CTWU). The remaining employees are managerial and other staff who excluded from the union’s bargaining unit.