Articles 2023

A welcome message from our Chair and highlights of the Workers' Compensation Section's upcoming CPD programs!

A recent decision of the Divisional Court discusses what constitutes an action not made primarily for the purpose of claiming benefits under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS) and how this interacts with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act.

As everyone will have heard by now, the Court of Appeal stayed Justice Belobaba’s decision in Toronto (City) v. Ontario (Attorney General). Other topics this week included notice of termination in the context of a mass termination of employees, municipal liability for non-repair of a highway (two decisions), administrative law in the WSIB context, and causation in the medmal context.

A recent decision by the Supreme Court of Canada sheds new light on how to consider employers’ duty to accommodate when dealing with an injured worker. In Quebec (Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail) v. Caron, 2018 SCC 3, the Court unanimously decided that “the duty to reasonably accommodate disabled employees is a fundamental tenet of Canadian and, more particularly, Quebec labour law. ”

A recent decision of the Divisional Court in which an employer’s application for judicial review of a WSIAT decision was granted.

Recent WSIAT decision discusses the applicability of the WSIB's Adjudicative Advice document for workers in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers' Program, in light of inconsistencies with the WSIA and WSIB policy.

In a rare decision, the Human Rights Tribunal found that the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) failed to accommodate a worker’s disability in terms of the way in which the claim was handled. The case includes lessons for the broader community, particularly in light of the revised WSIB mental stress policies which will take effect come January 2018.

This insightful article highlights the deference the courts give to decisions of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT), noting that review of a decision will be on the "organic whole, without a line-by-line treasure hunt for error." As an added bonus, the article also provides a reminder that remote work locations create exceptions for what will be considered "reasonably incidental to employment".