Grievance Case Summary - G-299

The grievance pertains to the Force's failure to apprise the Grievor that he would be eligible to additional compensation if he delayed initiating his relocation until after the Integrated Relocation Pilot Project (IRP) came into effect on April 1, 1999. In 1994, the Grievor and his spouse purchased a single family residence for $175,000. Over the next five years, they made capital improvements to the property, which included $4,500 to finish the basement and $1,600 to install a fence. On February 23, 1999, the Grievor was notified that he would be transferred to another location and would therefore have to be relocated. The transfer was not scheduled to come into effect for several months. The Force provided the Grievor with documentation concerning his relocation entitlements but told him that it had no information about the IRP or when it would come into effect. The Grievor elected on March 23^rd to enter into the Guaranteed Home Sale Plan (GHSP), which provided him with a minimum price for his home of $167,500. However, several weeks later, the Grievor sold his home for $172,500. In July, after the transfer became effective, the Grievor filed a grievance, claiming that the Force had been negligent in failing to inform him that he would have been eligible for additional compensation, had his relocation been processed under the IRP, because of the financial loss that he incurred on the sale of his home. The Level I adjudicator concluded that he did not have jurisdiction to hear the grievance because the Grievor had not been aggrieved by the manner in which his relocation was processed, having "received benefits in accordance with an agreement he had signed in March 1999". At Level II, the Grievor indicated that one of his colleagues had his relocation delayed by the Force so as to allow him to obtain the additional compensation that was available under the IRP.

The Level I adjudicator erred in concluding that the Grievor did not have standing. The Grievor was entitled to challenge the Force's omission to provide him with information about the IRP. However, he waited too long to file his grievance, which should have been presented at the time that the Force declined his request for information. On the merits of the grievance, there is insufficient evidence that the Force acted in bad faith by failing to inform the Grievor of the terms of the IRP before he made the decision to enter the GHSP.

The grievance should be denied.

The Commissioner agreed with the findings and recommendation of the Committee and denied the grievance.