Supreme Court

Judge:

The Honourable Justice James L. Chipman

Heard:

April 28, 2016 in Halifax, Nova Scotia

Subject:

Judicial review

Appeal Board’s consideration of extrinsic evidence in denying LTD benefits

Summary:

The Applicant is an employee of the Nova Scotia Department of Natural Resources, insured for long term disability under the Nova Scotia Public Services Long Term Disability Plan.  She applied for LTD benefits and was denied.  The Applicant made further submissions and the denial was maintained.  She appealed and the matter was referred to an Appeal Board.  The Appeal Board conducted its own research and denied the appeal.

Issues:

(1)        Was the Applicant owed procedural fairness?

(2)        Did the Appeal Board’s reliance on outside sources result in a breach of the duty of fairness?

Result:

As an administrative decision-maker, the Appeal Board owed Ms. Hyson procedural fairness, which is a sufficient basis for judicial review.  The Appeal Board’s use of independent research, without giving the Applicant an opportunity to respond, violated the duty of fairness.

Procedural fairness is a fundamental tenet of judicial review and should not in any circumstances be ignored.  In this case, it is apparent that the outside research significantly influenced the result.  Accordingly, the decision of the Appeal Board was set aside and Ms. Hyson’s appeal was referred to a newly constituted Appeal Board.