# 2014-019 - Duty Status, Family Care Assistance (FCA) , Summary Investigation

Case Summary

F&R Date: 2014–03–04

The grievor contested the conclusions that she was not on duty when seriously injured in an automobile accident and that her injuries were not attributable to military service.

On 2 May 2013, the Initial Authority (IA) denied the grievance. The grievor received the IA decision on 12 May 2013 and requested that her grievance be sent to the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS), as the Final Authority (FA), on 11 August 2013.

The Committee found that the grievor's request to forward her grievance to the CDS was submitted outside of the 90-day regulatory timeline set out in article 7.10 of the Queen's Regulations and Orders for the Canadian Forces. For those grievances submitted outside of the time-limit, article 7.10 requires a grievor to submit reasons for the delay. In this case, the grievor did not provide any reasons.

The Committee noted that the FA may consider a grievance submitted outside of the time-limit if he finds it would be in the interests of justice to do so. Upon review of the file, the Committee found that the IA decision clearly set out the requirement to submit the grievance to the CDS within 90 days of receipt of the decision if so desired. In addition, the election form used by the grievor to send her grievance to the CDS contained a dedicated portion for late submission and inclusion of reasons. The grievor did not complete this portion of the template.

The Committee found that the grievor had not provided reasons nor showed interest in proceeding with her grievance within the time-limit. The Committee also found that there were no exceptional circumstances that would warrant or justify the acceptance of the grievance in the interests of justice. Therefore, the Committee recommended that the grievance be denied.

CDS Decision Summary

CDS Decision Date: 2014–06–09

The FA did not agree with the Committee's recommendation to reject the file, and returned it to the Committee for its review on the merit.