Union Descriminates Agains't Individual With PTSD

My name is Zachary Lapchuk and I am raising funds in support of my father David Lapchuk in his upcoming legal engagement with Saskatchewan Government Employees Union (SGEU) in the King's court for SGEU application to stay payment of award, and Judicial Review.

In 2012, my father was employed by the Ministry of Highways for the Transport Compliance division as a special constable Traffic officer L7 Program Operator and later a L10 Program Specialist operating MVIS requires a L 10 training that was what the reclassification was for. While in the field, he was confronted by a member of the public. This person verbally attacked him and then turned to physical violence. My father was required to defend himself with minimal force. His attacker did not have any serious injuries. Dad did sustain a major physical injury while defending himself and did require surgical intervention. The injury to his mental health (PTSD) was far more damaging.

My father then was wrongfully dismissed by his employer in 2013 on the grounds of "use of force" and non-compliance with the structures of his duties.

When he turned to SGEU to enter a grievance in order to be reinstated with his employer. SGEU represented Dad in a manner that was ‘arbitrary, discriminatory and in bad faith’ and provided deceptive information to all concerned agencies such as Workers Compensation (WCB), Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Investigators and the grievance arbitrator.

With the support of his family, he began his quest for justice for the wrongdoings of the organizations that were supposed to support him.

Dad used his family saving, personal assets and pension contributions in the attempt to stand up for himself and anyone whom has fallen victim to the false sense of security any member of an organized union might have when confronted with a similar injustice.

My father had been formally diagnosed with complex accumulative PTSD shortly after the incident, which was aggravated by the assault. The Union and the employer were aware of this condition as he was attending PTSD counseling through the EFAP program of the employer prior to the assault. Through the court proceedings, SGEU seemingly leveraged what they knew about his PTSD triggers, trying to invoke an involuntary PTSD occurrence to paint him in a negative light.

He eventually ended up in the Saskatchewan Labor Relations Board (SLRB) where he finally felt the relief of justice served. In February 2022 there was a decision found that SGEU had not properly represented my father for the 1000 days leading up to and including the arbitration. It was determined that the Union had acted in bad faith and discriminated against him.

The SLRB decision awarded him $294,755, to compensate for a decade of lost wages and legal fees incurred. This sum includes a $25,000 moral mistreatment compensation, the highest value within SLRB legal precedence.

On March 25, 2023, SGEU decided they would appeal Saskatchewan Labor Boards decision to the Kings Court. By appealing, the SLRB decision could go from a Provincial precedence, to a Federal precedence, this would set the standard for other unions across Canada to undermine the responsibility to their members in the future if the decision is overturned in the Judicial Review.

SGEU is also trying to “stay” the monetary award of the SLRB decision, in hopes that my father could not afford to continue.

This is why I am raising funds.

My goal is to help Dad with the Judicial Review appeal process and the legal costs associated.

I invite anyone that can relate to the hardships my father and our family have been through over the last decade due to the Union’s bad faith and discriminatory actions to consider giving monetary shows of support, as they are very appreciated. If you are not in the position to do so, I would also appreciate your words of encouragement, and the sharing of his experience to others help raise awareness of the injustices he has endured.

Thank you, from our family to yours

Please consider referring to the following links for more details and articles for further information and background.

Leader Post Article – Written by Creeden Martel

https://leaderpost.com/news/local-news/sgeu-hit-with-more-than-294k-in-costs-for-bad-faith-representation

Search File # LRB263-16

https://www.sasklabourrelationsboard.com/decisions