On September 25th the Grievance Settlement Board ordered the province to pay $2,500 in damages for making an authorized call to an employee’s personal doctor. Vice-Chair Fisher based the award on the province’s failure to respond appropriately to the breach and evidence of mental distress:
However the Grievor is also entitled to a further remedy for this serious breach of the MOS. I am deeply troubled by the fact that Ministry apparently made no attempt to ascertain who in fact made this improper phone call. One would think that the Ministry would have some interest in trying to determine who in fact made such an inappropriate phone call, but apparently they did not.
The Grievor indicated that these series of events caused him distress and that he felt disgusted by the actions of the person whom made the call to his doctor without his consent. The Grievor is entitled to monetary damages for his distress. Although he did not receive any medical attention for this distress, it does not mean that his distress was not real.
The Union proved the call and not the identity of the caller, but the province did not take steps to rebut the inference that the call came from someone in its employ. The caller obtained information about appointments the grievor had attended from a medical secretary who was subsequently reprimanded for her breach.
Ontario Public Service Employees Union (Spicer) v Ontario (Labour), 2013 CanLII 72580 (ON GSB).
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