In a decision released in June 2013, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declaring Mr. William Malamas to be a “vexatious litigant.” Mr. Malamas is a former real estate agent who…
In September 2013, Justice Grace of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded a plaintiff in a wrongful dismissal case $20,000 in damages for breach of the Ontario Human Rights Code. This appears to be the first-ever decision under s.…
In the June 2013 decision, CEP Local 30 v. Irving Pulp and Paper, the majority of the Supreme Court of Canada, in an opinion authored by Abella J., allowed the appeal from the New Brunswick Court of Appeal’s decision, but…
The recent case of Olivares v. Canac Kitchens, 2012 ONSC 284 provides a useful reminder of what to include in a damages calculation for a wrongful dismissal case. In this case, the plaintiff had worked for Canac Kitchens for 24…
Contracting Out of Limitation Periods: Boyce v. The Co-Operators General Insurance Company, 2013 ONCA 298 In May 2013, the Ontario Court of Appeal handed down a decision in Boyce v. The Co-Operators General Insurance Company, 2013 ONCA 298, which clarifies…
This blog considers the implications that a recent criminal law decision may have for employment law. While it is uncommon for criminal law and employment law to intersect, a recent evidentiary issue decided by the Court of Appeal for Ontario…
In the recent decision, Bowes v. Goss Power Products Ltd., 2012 ONCA 425 (CanLII), a five-member panel of the Ontario Court of Appeal unanimously ruled that there is no duty to mitigate if an employment agreement contains a fixed-term notice…
In a recent decision released in March 2013, former university professor Denis Rancourt, who is a defendant in a defamation claim by University of Ottawa law professor Joanne St. Lewis, was ordered by the court to disclose his Facebook “friends”…
We’ve all heard an embarrassing story where someone hit “send” before an email or text was finished, sent a sensitive email to the entire group when it was intended for only one recipient, or wrote something they instantly regretted. On…
In the recent case, Fair v. Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, 2013 HRTO 440, the Human Rights Tribunal reinstated the applicant, Ms. Fair, into a position with the respondent school board, more than eight years after she was dismissed. This case…
A recent decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Chisolm Place Housing Co-operative Inc. v. Hickox, 2013 ONSC 2215, has affirmed that housing co-operatives must be transparent, fair and reasonable when seeking to terminate the membership and occupancy rights…
A decision released by the Federal Court in January 2013 confirms that employers must accommodate their employees with parental obligations to the point of undue hardship: Johnstone v. A.G. (Canada). Fiona Johnstone and her husband worked as Border Services Officers…
A recent decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”), Tremblay v. 1168531 Ontario Inc., highlights the importance of confidentiality in the settlement process. Trish-Ann Tremblay filed a human rights application against her former employer, a fast food restaurant,…
The Human Rights Tribunal recently convened a rare three-member panel to consider the issue of whether the Human Rights Tribunal has jurisdiction to decide if the WSIB’s traumatic mental stress (“TMS”) policy and the related provisions of the Workplace Safety…
In November 2012, labour arbitrator William Kaplan decided the grievance case of Agropur Division Natrel v. Teamsters Local 647 (Grievance of JF), 2012 CanLII 69477, regarding the termination of a disabled employee requesting reinstatement. The grievor, JF, was a 10-year…
The Supreme Court of Canada recently released its decision in R. v. Cole, 2012 SCC 53, in which the Court decided that employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the information contained on work computers where personal use is…
In a recent decision, Garrie v. Janus Joan Inc., the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) has clarified the principles related to determining the limitation period for discrimination claims involving a series of discriminatory incidents that are more than one…
In a recent British Columbia decision, the question before the court was whether an employee who stormed out of a meeting saying “I’m out of here!” was expressing an intention to quit, or an intention to go on vacation. What…
Machado v. Terrace Ford Lincoln Sales is a case from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (the “Tribunal”) confirming that employers must take steps to accommodate employees who disclose their disability, even where no prior request for accommodation is made.…
In the 2012 case of Brito v. Canac Kitchens, 2012 ONCA 61, the Court of Appeal considered what would be a nightmare scenario for many employers. In this case, the employee was covered under an employer-sponsored benefit plan, which included…