In Plourde v. Wal-Mart Canada Corp. (released November 27th, 2009), the Supreme Court of Canada found for Wal-Mart and confirmed that a recently certified employer has no legal obligation under labour legislation to stay in business, and that a closure of one of its locations can constitute sufficient reason for the termination of the employees […]
In a previous newsletter, we reported on the repeated attempts in recent years by Canadian employees to launch class action claims for unpaid overtime against their employers. In our Spring 2010 issue, we reported on a decision of the Ontario Superior Court, certifying a class action which authorized a claim against the Bank of Nova […]
In Director, Ontario Disability Support Program v. Tranchemontagne et al., the Court of Appeal established the test to be applied in determining whether a government program is discriminatory under the Ontario Human Rights Code, and determined whether that test involves the same analysis for discrimination that is applied under s. 15 of the Canadian Charter […]
Bill C-28, the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act, received Royal Assent in December 2010. Similar in many respects to its predecessor, Bill C-27, the Electronic Commerce Protection Act, which died on the order paper in December 2009, Bill C-28 aims to prohibit the sending of unsolicited commercial electronic messages. The anti-spam rules apply to […]
We first reported on Ontario Bill 68, The Open for Business Act, 2010, in our Fall 2010 newsletter. As of January 19th, 2011, amendments to the Employment Standards Act (ESA) pursuant to Bill 68 have changed the ESA claims process in Ontario. The amendments aim to encourage employers and employees to resolve ESA issues internally, […]
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the reinstatement of two Air Canada pilots compelled to retire upon reaching age 60. The pilots’ retirement was mandatory according to the terms of both the pension plan and the collective agreement between the airline and the union. The two Air Canada Pilots argued that being forced to […]
The Firm welcomes our new Associate Katherine Symonds. Katherine completed her articles with the Firm and has recently been called to the Bar.
Last summer, Bill 168 was declared in force by the Ontario Government. This Bill made significant amendments to Ontario’s Occupational Health and Safety Act, and placed onerous obligations on employers with respect to workplace harassment and violence prevention. The Bill made it mandatory for all Ontario employers to conduct risk assessments of their workplaces, create […]
The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released a new policy on the prevention of sexual and gender-based harassment in early 2011. The policy provides a general overview of sexual and gender-based harassment, and then offers more context-specific information for employers, as well as for housing providers and educators. The policy provides examples of conduct that […]
In our Summer 2010 newsletter, we reported on an award of Arbitrator Owen Shime, in which he ordered the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) to pay over $500,000 in damages for bad faith conduct in the termination of a PSAC employee for suspected abuse of sick leave. This unprecedented award included: damages for past and […]