News & Events

On December 15, 2017 the Supreme Court of Canada (“Supreme Court”) delivered a significant decision in the area of human rights law. According to the Supreme Court, employers are not the only ones who are prohibited from committing discriminatory harassment against employees. British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal v. Schrenk concerned claims of discrimination in the

In an unprecedented decision released by the Court of Appeal recently, the Court has found the use of the word “probation” in an Employment Agreement has the meaning that during the stated period of time, employment may be terminated with payment only as is required by the Employment Standards Legislation. Notwithstanding requirements that contracts be

The Court of Appeal has again ruled on the issue of terms in employment contracts which purport to limit an employee to minimum notice under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) upon termination. In North v. Metaswitch, the Court of Appeal held that it is improper to use a severability clauses to remove portions of

In a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, a judge ruled that a working notice period does not apply to an employee who is on disability leave from his employer. In this case, a 43 year old employee with 18 years’ service commenced a disability leave in January, 2016 for a non-work

The recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal found that a single act of dishonesty by an employee at the time of completing an employment application could give rise to cause for the termination of his employment. The employee working in the area of atomic energy sought to become employed as an industrial safety

When an employee is wrongfully dismissed from her employment, she is required to seek alternative employment to mitigate, or reduce, the damages she incurs. The income earned from alternative employment is normally deducted from the damages the former employer owes to the employee. In a recent decision, Brake v. PJ-M2R Restaurant Inc., the Ontario Court

Calling someone an independent contractor does not necessarily make them one, especially where a worker’s role has shifted over time. An employer learned this lesson the hard way when the British Columbia Supreme Court ordered it to pay the plaintiff, who the Court classified as a dependant contractor, damages in the amount of 12 months’

  Summary The government of Ontario has tabled legislation to make major changes to labour and employment law in the province. The proposed changes include: Raising the general minimum wage to $15 an hour by January 1, 2019. Changing various features of union certification and first contract dispute resolution procedures, including: extending card-based certification to

On a Summary Judgment motion, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded an Employee $7,500 in damages for mental distress together with damages of $17,076 in lieu of lost income for the Employer’s failure to provide the Employee with a revised notice of termination. The Employee, a 72 year old man, worked as a security

The decision of The Honourable Mr. Justice Miller, of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, released April 18, 2017, considered a claim for defamation by an employee in relation to a reference given by his former employer to a potential future employer. This could have been the first case in which an employer was found