In his decision in Khaper v. Air Canada, 2015 FCA 99, Justice Webb states the principle that the duty to accommodate does not survive the termination of employment if the employer legitimately had no knowledge of the employee’s disability at…
The recent termination of a Hydro One employee following an incident at a Toronto FC soccer match earlier this month has been the subject of extensive public debate. The employee, Shawn Simoes, was part of a group of men who…
The Ontario Superior Court’s recent decision in Antunes v. Limen Structures Ltd., is an important caution to employers who embellish the attributes of their company or a particular position when courting future employees. This decision makes clear that the general…
The common employer doctrine allows individuals who have been wrongfully dismissed to extend liability past the employer who technically employs them to the “true” employer who has effective control over the employee. The limits of the common employer doctrine have…
Raymond Giza worked as a bus driver for Sechelt School Bus Service Ltd. (“Sechelt”), and its owner, Randy Gould, for a period of five years. On September 30, 2009, Mr. Giza arrived at work to find a paycheque, a pay…
In a recent decision released in August 2015, an Ontario court held that a plaintiff could bring a defamation action in Ontario over allegedly defamatory statements made in a foreign-based news publication which were posted online. The plaintiff is a…
Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court refused to grant leave to appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision in Instorage Limited Partnership and Instorage Trustee Corp. v. Matthew Brady Self Storage Corporation. In refusing to grant leave, the Supreme…
Wray James LLP is pleased to announce that Patrick James will serve as chair of the Just Magazine editorial board effective July 1, 2015. Just is the official magazine of the Ontario bar association, shedding light on industry developments and…
Our recent appeal has been published in the Ontario Reports, and it offers a clear look at the issues we advanced and how the court approached them. For anyone interested in appellate advocacy, standards of review, or how legal principles…
Distinguishing at law between an ordinary employee and a key employee who owes an employer fiduciary duties can be challenging at the best of times. In his decision in Optilinx Systems Inc. v. Fiberco Solutions Inc., 2014 ONSC 6944, Justice…
The Federal Court of Appeal’s decision in Wilson v. Atomic Energy, 2015 FCA 17, has added a new layer to the already exceptionally nuanced standard of review analysis where the decision under review is the subject of disagreement among administrative…
The Federal Court of Appeal recently released an important decision that clarifies the law relating to unjust dismissals under the Canada Labour Code (“Code”). In Wilson v. Atomic Energy, 2015 FCA 17, the court overturned a labour adjudicator’s decision that…
A decision from the Ontario Court of Appeal, released on December 29, 2014, represents a significant win for long-term disability (LTD) claimants and provides important clarity on limitation periods applicable to group LTD insurance contracts in Ontario. Andrew Wray and…
Issue estoppel is a judicial doctrine of public policy aimed at preventing an unsuccessful party from re-litigating the same matter before another court or tribunal. As stated by the Supreme Court of Canada in the foundational case Danyluk v. Ainsworth…
In Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 1999 v. Lakeridge Health Corporation (“Lakeridge Health”), the Divisional Court of Ontario upheld two decisions of the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal (the “Tribunal”), which found that the Pay Equity Act (the “Act”) does…
In Chan v. Dencan Restaurants Inc., 2011 BCSC 1439, Philip Chan was a general manager for Denny’s Restaurants and had been employed with Denny’s for 15 years when he resigned from his job after his supervisor criticized his performance and…
The Bank of Nova Scotia (“Scotiabank”) has reached a settlement with its employees in a class action involving a claim for unpaid overtime. In our previous blog posts, we have been following the case of Fulawka v. Bank of Nova…
In a June 2014 decision, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia awarded $500,000 in punitive and $180,000 in aggravated damages to plaintiff Bruce Brine as a result of his insurer Industrial Alliance’s (“Industrial”) failure to handle Mr. Brine’s claim for…
In a recent decision, Fasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP v. British Columbia (Human Rights Tribunal), the British Columbia Court of Appeal has overturned rulings from the BC Human Rights Tribunal and the BC Supreme Court which held that partners in business…
In a decision released on December 20, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada declared that three provisions of the Criminal Code (“Code”) criminalizing various activities of sex workers are unconstitutional: Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, 2013 SCC 72. The constitutional…