Law360 Canada ( January 12, 2018, 7:05 AM EST) -- Appeal by the Cape Breton Firefighters Association (Union) from the dismissal of its application for judicial review of the decision of an arbitration board chaired by Ashley (Ashley Board). The Union grieved a workplace restructuring undertaken by the Cape Breton Regional Municipality which closed a fire station and reduced the number of firefighters assigned to each shift. An arbitration board chaired by Girard (Girard Board) concluded that the Municipality failed to respect the requirement in the parties’ collective agreement requiring it to retain an overall minimum staffing level. Specifically, the Girard Board found that Article 27.01 of the collective agreement required there to be at least seven firefighters and three captains on shift at any one time in the community of Sydney. The Union sought only a declaration of breach of the collective agreement and the Girard Board granted that remedy. The Municipality continued to staff the fire station as the same levels as before the grievance, assigning only six firefighters and two captains to each shift. Accordingly, the Union brought another grievance, heard by the Ashley Board, alleging a continuing breach of the collective agreement. The Union sought an order compelling the employer to abide by the minimum staffing guarantees set out in Article 27.01, along with the payment of damages, including aggravated and punitive damages arising from the fact that the employer had intentionally disregarded the findings of the Girard Board. The Ashley Board dismissed the grievance, essentially finding that the issue had been addressed by the Girard Board and that the second grievance was nothing more than a request for an additional remedy, one which the Union had not sought before the Girard Board. Upon judicial review, the application judge found that the Ashley Board’s conclusion was reasonable....