The lawsuit between the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) and the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) has not progressed and the positions of the student bodies have not changed.
The associations met soon after the end of the school year but the issue of the health plan lawsuit did not come up, according to GSA president Grant MacNeil.
The GSA pursued legal action after CUSA signed a new health plan last year. Before that, the two unions were in a joint health plan with Morneau Sheppell Inc.
The joint plan could only be dissolved by mutual consent or through a referendum of either associations’ membership, according to the plan’s contract.
In July 2012 CUSA passed a motion changing the definition of referendum to mean a vote among CUSA executives.
CUSA terminated the joint contract July 27, 2012.
On Oct. 31, 2012 the GSA sent legal notice to CUSA demanding that they return to the joint health plan. CUSA’s statement of defense, filed on Jan. 24, 2013, denies that they breached the agreement.
After the GSA’s statement of claim and CUSA’s statement of defence, the two parties may now proceed to discovery or meditation. According to Canadian civil procedure, discovery is where the two parties’ positions are clarified and their evidence against each other is presented, and mediation is where a settlement may be reached before the trial proceeds to court.
“In all likelihood there will be mediation before discovery,” said GSA executive co-ordinator Phil Robinson. “It could be informal mediation or formal mediation.”
“They have a new team of executives, we have a few new members, and we are definitely looking forward to get past some of the disagreements we’ve had in the past and hopefully to a positive outcome for all parties,” CUSA president Alexander Golovko said.
Robinson said their position in the case has not changed, regarding CUSA’s alleged breach of contract.
“The bottom line is our students have saved money, and our students will be saving money in the long-term regardless of the case,” Golovko said.
