Law360 Canada (June 21, 2022, 5:45 AM EDT) -- Appeal by Beach Place Ventures Ltd. and Black Top Cabs Ltd. from the dismissal of their judicial review petition which sought to quash a decision of the Employment Standards Tribunal (“Tribunal”) affirming a determination that the respondents were employees of the appellants for the purposes of the Employment Standards Act (“ESA”). The appellants argued the judicial review judge failed to find the Tribunal’s interpretation of “employee” to be patently unreasonable. The three individual respondents filed complaints with the Director of Employment Standards (“Director”) as to whether the respondents and appellants were in an employment relationship. Two of the respondents were Spare Drivers and one was a Lease Driver of taxis owned and operated by the appellants. A delegate of the Director issued a determination (“Determination”) which found the respondents were employees of the appellants for the purposes of the ESA and that the appellants owed them monies for unpaid wages. The appellants’ appeal of the Determination and application for reconsideration were both dismissed. The appellants sought an order in the nature of certiorari quashing the Appeal Decision and the Reconsideration Decision. They contended the Tribunal did not look at the legislative history of the ESA and that history did not support an expansive conception of “employee. In aid of this submission, the appellants sought to rely on a 1994 Thompson Report....