In Brisebois v Shaw Communications Inc ( 2016 CarswellNat 4227) Adjudicator Peterson ruled that even though the Complainant had not even attended at the hearing and subsequently lost his case, he had no statutory authority to award costs to the Employer as his power to order a remedy was only upon a finding that the Complainant was unjustly dismissed.
Of course there is no doubt that Adjudicators are permitted to award costs in favour of a Complainant as part of their jurisdiction to make the terminated employee whole.
This costs advantage is one more reason that many terminated Federally regulated employees choose to file an Unjust Dismissal complaint under the CLC rather than filing a law suit and exposing themselves to adverse costs awards.
Furthermore, if the Complainants’ lawyer is on a contingency feee arrangement, then they have effectively eliminated any risk of costs exposure for the Complainant in a loss because the client neither has to pay their own lawyer or the Employer’s legal costs.