Iqaluit (Aug 07/06) - Five years of fighting with the Workers' Compensation Board has concluded with a judge ruling in favour of an injured miner.

The Nunavut Court of Justice has ruled that complainant Roche Rennie's income insurance benefits should have been calculated as part of his income.

It's a precedent that the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) of NWT/Nunavut claimed could put an additional $1.5 million strain on its accident fund each year because it would affect similar claims. However, to prevent that, the WCB's governance council has clarified the board's policy in an attempt to prevent other compensation recipients from successfully making the same demand, according to Michael Triggs, legal counsel for the WCB. Rennie, who hails from Newfoundland, was hurt while working at Nanisivik mine, near Arctic Bay, on Feb. 24, 2001. In the year prior to the injury, he had been earning income from a previous job and $542.67 per month from employment insurance.

He felt that the benefits should have been considered part of his remuneration from the previous year, an important distinction because it would raise the value of his claim. The WCB decided otherwise.

An independent appeals tribunal sided with Rennie in 2003. The WCB appealed, but the tribunal reached the same conclusion in 2005. The WCB wanted the tribunal to review the circumstances yet again. But Rennie turned to the courts, and Justice Earle Johnson's July 7 decision ground things to a halt.

"The request for a second re-consideration was an attempt to pressure the tribunal to change its decision and should be recognized as such by this Court," Johnson wrote in his decision, adding that the WCB was acting "beyond its authority."

The independent tribunal was created by the NWT government in 1990 to prevent the WCB from having too much influence over the appeals process. Johnson noted that the NWT legislature, in the court's opinion, only meant to permit one tribunal rehearing per case, not two. The court's decision gave finality to a matter "that has already gone on far too long and must be ended," the justice wrote.

In a phone conversation, Rennie said he does not want to comment until he knows the WCB won't appeal the court decision.