Articles

The courts view just cause for dismissal as the capital punishment of employment law. Consequently, employers face a significant burden when trying to prove just cause at law. Arguing just cause for dismissal may be difficult; however, it is not impossible, especially in circumstances involving dishonesty or lack of trust. This article summarizes two recent decisions where employers were found to be justified in terminating employees with just cause based on forgery.

Since the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hryniak v. Mauldin, 2014 SCC 7 (“Hryniak”), summary judgment has become one of the primary tools used by employment lawyers. Recent Ontario court decisions have expanded upon Hryniak and now provide a framework for the circumstances in which to seek summary judgment in the context of a wrongful dismissal. These decisions, however, also serve as a reminder of the limitation of summary judgment and how parties should properly engage with it.

From time to time an employment law decision comes along that resonates beyond the specialized legal blogs and into the mainstream news. Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. is one of those cases.

With the Federal Government's plan to remove marijuana consumption and incidental possession from the Criminal Code employers must consider how to manage the use of marijuana in the workplace.

The Ontario Court of Appeal’s decisions in Paquette v. TeraGo Networks Inc. and Lin v. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan have made it much easier to argue that employees are entitled to compensation for bonuses during the notice period, regardless of what may be contained in an employment contract or bonus plan.

With workplace Investigations becoming a more common tool to address employee issues, the Federal Court makes it clear that they must be conducted with an open mind.

Do employers have a duty to protect employees from harassment arising from employer operated social media?

Common law duty of good faith (aka Bhasin) wreaking havoc on interpretation of terms in employment contracts.

Since the Ontario Court of Appeal recognized the tort of “intrusion upon seclusion” in the landmark decision Jones v. Tsige, a spotlight has been turned on the issue of unauthorized employee snooping into clients’ personal records for purposes of their own. Further, with the recent recognition of novel privacy torts by both the Federal Court of Canada and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, employers could face new risks when employees decide to push private matters into public view.