In Lopez v Bank of Nova Scotia ( File YM2727-15590 Arbitrator Bendal responded to the Complainant’s position that he should recuse himself from the case because on a number of occasions he raised legal issues and did legal research on issues that were not raised by either party.
There were two main issues that the Arbitrator raised himself, conducted research on and then asked for the parties submissions. These issues were :
1) Could he consider an offer of reinstatement made in the context of a settlement discussion between the lawyers as a factor in the arbitration. He ruled he could .
2) The reinstatement offer which the Complainant refused contained certain conditions which the Arbitrator believed were not enforceable and thus should the Complainant have agreed to these conditions and then argue before the Arbitrator that they were of no force and effect. He has yet to rule on this issue because the Complainant brought a motion for recusal.
In lengthy reasons, he ruled that he was correct in his rulings and did not show any bias.
The case now continues.
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