Articles 2021

Following are this past week’s summaries of the civil decisions of the Court of Appeal for Ontario. Please mark down April 27, 2021, from 5:30-7:45pm in your calendars for our fifth annual “Top Appeals” CLE, which will take place via Zoom. Justice Benjamin Zarnett will be co-chairing the event with myself and Chloe Snider of Dentons.

Historically, plaintiffs seeking damages for pure economic loss have faced multiple challenges from defendants, as well as skepticism from the Courts.  In two recent decisions, the Courts have emphasized that categories for claims for pure economic loss while not closed, are fact driven, and that a finding of proximity is key.  These cases could have important implications on the success of future class proceedings.

This decision of the Federal Court of Appeal involved two applications for judicial review challenging the designation of four Jurisprudential Guides by the Chairperson of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). This decision provides instructive analysis with respect to the use of jurisprudential guides.

Association of Professional Engineers v Rew is an appeal to the Divisional Court by the Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (the PEO) from a decision of a Discipline Panel of the PEO. This case demonstrates that quality of reasons can play an important role in determining whether an administrative decision should be upheld even where the reasons do permit review.

In Longueépée v. University of Waterloo, 2020 ONCA 830, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that the University of Waterloo had discriminated against Roch Longueépée when it refused him admission on the basis of his previous grades, which were the result of undiagnosed and unaccommodated disabilities. This decision is significant not only for its contribution to human rights jurisprudence, but also for how it applies the administrative law principles set out by the Supreme Court in Vavilov.

Summary of a decision awarding $170 thousand to an applicant in a coercive sexual relationship and assaulted by her supervisor. The employer settled. The award was against the individual respondent, who did not participate in the proceedings.

If no provincial vaccine mandate is implemented, individual employers will have to take it upon themselves to determine how to introduce employees back into their workplaces in light of legal and social responses to the pandemic. These policies promise to be complex, requiring a fine balancing of the rights of each stakeholder. This article will discuss some of the considerations for employers when creating these “return-to-work” policies.