British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU
Canada Supreme Court
[1999] 3 S.C.R. 3 (1999)
- Written by Miller Jozwiak, JD
Facts
A female firefighter worked on a rapid-response crew that fought forest fires when the fires were small enough to contain. The firefighter’s supervisors reported that her work was satisfactory. However, the government (defendant) imposed a test that required certain aerobic-exercise benchmarks of all firefighters. The test was developed based on measuring average performance levels of male and female subjects and did not distinguish between the male and female test subjects. The firefighter failed one of the aerobic-capacity tests and was laid off. Male firefighters, however, were much more likely to pass the test without training. The firefighter’s union (plaintiff) grieved her termination. The arbitrator concluded that the firefighter was improperly dismissed, finding that there was no evidence that the aerobic requirements were actually related to safe firefighting. To the contrary, the arbitrator noted that the firefighter had performed her job successfully in the past, as indicated by the positive reviews of her supervisors. The court of appeal reversed, concluding that the aerobic standard was related to safe firefighting.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (McLachlin, J.)
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