UNB agrees to settlement conference on women's hockey team ruling

The ruling,by the Labour and Employment Board, found that theuniversity discriminated on the basis of sex when it downgraded theteam to a sports club in 2008.

Sylvia Dooley played on the varsity team and alleged thedecision to relegate the women's team constituted discrimination onthe basis of their sex.

Dooley saidthe two sides have agreed to meet for a settlementconference to discuss how the board's decision may beimplemented.

Tentative dates have been set in November and December.

Dooley saidFridayit was not possible for her to commentfurther at this time. By late afternoon, the university had notresponded to a request for comment.

The university could still take the case tocourtif anagreement cannot be reached.

During the hearing before the board, the university argued thatshortening the list of varsity sports was based on how it spent itsfunds and said it did not have an obligation to provide particularsports, adding that the school doesn't have a rugby team for men.

But in his decision, board chairman Robert Breen agreed withDooley, whose last name was Bryson at the time.

"The Board is satisfied that: (i) the Complainant was a memberof a group with a personal characteristic protected fromdiscrimination under the Code; (ii) the Complainant Bryson has shownthat she experienced adverse impacts with respect to UNB VarsityAthletics service available to the eligible UNB student public; and(iii) her protected characteristic of sex was a factor in theseadverse impacts," he wrote.

In May, when the university announced it would seek the judicialreview, the dean of kinesiology said the university disagreedwithvarious parts of the ruling.

"The reclassification of the women's team being discriminationon the basis of gender is something we feel was a systemic remedy toan individual complaint," said Wayne Albert.

He said the ruling has implications for the long-term financialstability of the university.

Albert said UNB would establish a task force to study theimplications of reinstating a women's varsity hockey team in timefor the 2017-18 season.