Sample Cases
Category: Benefits
A Long and Winding Road
A master corporal in British Columbia learned that his mother, who lived in Ontario, was critically ill. He was given authority to travel and was told that on his return he’d receive a refund of the travel costs. So off he went and spent the Christmas holidays with his mother.
When he
returned to his unit, the master corporal was told that administrative staff had
made a mistake: he wasn’t entitled to reimbursement. Director Compensation
and Benefits Administration (DCBA) officials said that reimbursement for those
expenses is normally available only to members on compassionate leave. According to
their records, the master corporal had been on retirement leave.
The Ombudsman investigator determined that the master corporal had taken all the necessary steps before departure. The error occurred at the local level because his status had not been changed before he was authorized to travel for compassionate reasons. For the next two years the investigator worked with the unit administration and DCBA officials. Finally, after considering the situation from the point of view of administrative fairness, DCBA reversed the original decision, and the master corporal was refunded the money he spent in travelling to visit his dying mother.
