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Tyler Sparrow-Mungal | February 11, 2025
In Khanom v. Idealogic PDS Inc., 2024 ONSC 5131, the Plaintiff, whose job title is undisclosed, requested to work from home during a government-imposed stay-at-home order. The Plaintiff’s duties were primarily computer-based. The Plaintiff's request derived from concerns regarding her diabetic husband’s health, as he was particularly vulnerable to health risks posed by COVID-19. The Defendant refused the request and subsequently terminated the Plaintiff’s employment.
Learn moreA Litigator and a Mediator Walk into a Bar...
Stuart Rudner and Alex Minkin | February 11, 2025
For most employment lawyers, mediation will be a far more common experience than trial. For most disputes, mediation is not a step on the road to trial—it is the main event. As a result, it is critical that lawyers prepare properly for mediation and take advantage of the opportunity. Alex, a litigator with Rudner Law, composed some questions that lawyers/litigators would like to hear a mediator (Stuart) answer. Below is our Q&A (which did not actually take place in a bar).
Learn moreTyler Sparrow-Mungal | November 15, 2024
The author summarizes the key takeaways from the November 4, 2024 OBA Labour & Employment Law Section program "How to Advise Your Labour and Employment Clients in the Artificial Intelligence Age." Topics include AI regulation, AI in hiring, and AI in termination decisions.
Learn moreAsleep at the Switch: Ignoring Employee Harassment Leads to a Colossal Damages Award
Carson Healey | November 05, 2024
Ontario’s courts have once again proven that serious consequences ensue for employers who do not protect their employees from harassment. In Stride v. Syra Group Holdings, the court issued an award of $125,000 in human rights damages and $50,000 in moral damages for the abusive and harsh treatment the plaintiff endured.
Learn moreAt Last! Employers Score a Much-Needed Victory in the Battle Over Termination Clauses!
Andrew Bratt, Drew McArthur and Rachel Corwin | October 25, 2024
Notwithstanding the increasing scrutiny and frequent invalidation of termination provisions by trial judges, it is still worthwhile for employers to include restrictive termination provisions in employment contracts as there are numerous examples of courts upholding the language when properly drafted. The latest example is Bertsch v. Datastealth.
Learn moreBalancing Fairness and Confidentiality: Lessons from Jarvis v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank
Tiana Terrigno | October 15, 2024
A recent Superior Court decision serves as a crucial reminder for employers to “think carefully before assuring complainants that their complaints can and will be kept confidential,” especially if those complaints will be used to justify a termination for cause.
Learn moreThe Duty to Investigate Workplace Harassment Exists, Even in the Absence of a Complaint
Inna Koldorf | September 20, 2024
Recently, the Ontario Divisional Court confirmed that incidents of harassment have to be investigated even in circumstances where there was no complaint, the harassing conduct was undertaken after working hours and away from the workplace, and the victim of the conduct did not wish to file a complaint.
Learn morePrepare for AI Regulation Ahead When Advising Employer Clients
Maciej Lipinski | September 20, 2024
While many employers are already considering, or are in the process of, taking steps to address the growing adoption and use of generative AI among their employees, important legal regulatory frameworks are also in development at both the Provincial and Federal levels. For lawyers advising employer clients grappling with generative AI in the workplace, it is increasingly important to keep an eye on the regulatory developments ahead.
Learn moreIntroducing the Totally Not Fake Dictionary of Ontario Employment Law
Mitchell Rose | September 20, 2024
This article contains excerpts from The Totally Not Fake Dictionary of Ontario Employment Law. In this new, groundbreaking work, the author aims to “tell it like it is." Readers will note that most entries contain multiple definitions drawn from real life. Pick the definition that you prefer depending on who your client is presently, and your deeply held biases.
Learn moreMarentette v Canada: The Weight of Procedural Fairness
Procedural fairness is critical to conducting appropriate workplace investigations and is a central component of ensuring objectivity and propriety in the investigation process. As illustrated in this recent Federal Court decision, a failure to ensure the procedural fairness of an investigation can be fatal to its ultimate findings – or invalidate the investigation entirely.
Learn moreBonus or Bust: Unravelling Employee Entitlements Post-Termination
Shan Malhi, JD Candidate 2025, Western University, Faculty of Law | July 02, 2024
A review of the legislative and jurisprudential frameworks regarding employee bonus entitlement subsequent to the termination of their employment.
Learn moreDufault Case Finds New Faults with Termination Provisions
Robert Richler | April 17, 2024
A recent case underscoring the importance of ensuring termination clauses adhere to ESA minimum requirements and the need for employers to carefully consider whether to use fixed-terms when hiring employees.
Learn moreIrfan Kara and Alexandra Lawrence | April 17, 2024
The BC Court of Appeal affirms that an employee's surreptitious recordings of meetings and conversations with other employees, which were discovered post-termination in the course of litigation, constituted after-acquired just cause for dismissal.
Learn moreWrongful Dismissal & ADR: 2023 Caselaw in Review
Mitchell Rose, LL.B., C. Med, Q. Arb | March 05, 2024
Court backlogs worsened in 2023 thereby significantly delaying wrongful dismissal actions. While ADR processes help to reduce backlogs, Ontario does not have province-wide mandatory mediation, and most arbitration is a result of contractual termination clauses that can be challenged. One way to encourage voluntary mediation is for courts to penalize parties for failure to participate. So, how did our Courts fare in 2023 in promoting mediation and arbitration in wrongful dismissal matters?
Learn moreBreaching Settlements by Posting: Lessons for Labour and Employment Law Counsel
Brendan Egan | February 05, 2024
Social media is a common part of most Canadians’ everyday lives. However, social media’s promise of nearly unlimited connectedness can pose problems when parties compromise their settlement agreements through their social media activity. This overview of two recent, non-judicial decisions provides labour and employment law lawyers with practical guidance on how to navigate settlement agreements in the era of social media.
Learn moreThe Ethical Screen: A How to Guide
Tahir Khorasanee (associate) and Rachel McKenzie (student-at-law) | May 02, 2023
The Ethical Screen: A How-to Guide provides readers with a current and concise overview of the regulations and expectations associated with an Ethical Screen. Reference to Ontario v. Chartis Insurance Company of Canada exemplifies how to avoid the consequences of an inadequate Ethical Screen.
Learn moreRob Richler | February 15, 2023
There have been several changes to Ontario employment law over the past year that will have lasting impacts on both employees and employers. A ban on non-compete agreements, mandatory written policies on disconnecting from work & electronic monitoring, business & IT consultants becoming exempt from ESA and new rules of temporary help agencies and recruiters are among these changes. Read on to learn about the implications of these changes on employee and employers in Ontario.
Learn moreHow to Win at Mediating Employment Law Claims
Stuart Rudner | November 17, 2022
I often write and speak about winning at mediation (it’s not an oxymoron), and as a mediator, I remain convinced that most counsel can do a much better job with their advocacy at mediation (also not an oxymoron). One of my mantras has become “help me to help you”; since I will be your advocate in the other room, make it as easy as possible for me to understand and explain your case in a compelling manner when I am speaking with the other side. That is how you win at mediation.
Learn moreDoes Mediation Satisfy the OHSA Duty to Investigate Workplace Harassment?
Ruth Wellen & Jesse Elders, Kastner Lam LLP | June 10, 2022
This article considers whether alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, meets the statutory requirement to conduct an investigation into allegations of workplace harassment under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act. We conclude that alternative dispute resolution does not satisfy an employer’s duty to investigate, but we encourage employers to consider using mediation and other restorative techniques as part of their overall response to a complaint of workplace harassment.
Learn moreWhat It Means to Say Yes: Settlement Enforcement in Employment Law Forums
Richa Sandill - staff lawyer, Don Valley Community Legal Services | May 05, 2022
In this article, we explore the various methods in employment law forums available to enforce a settlement, as well as understanding the test for when a settlement will be found to be binding in the event that a party changes its mind or attempts to resile.
Learn moreThree Ways in Which What Happens at Mediation Doesn’t Necessarily Stay at Mediation
Stuart Rudner, Rudner Law | March 29, 2022
While we generally refer to mediation as a confidential and without prejudice process, the truth is that there are three potential situations in which what happens at mediation can be referenced and relied upon. It is important that counsel are aware of these exceptions, and advisable that they ensure that mediations they participate in are governed by an agreement which rebuts them to the extent possible. My standard mediation agreement does so, but not all of them do.
Learn moreWhy We Need to Implement Province-Wide Mandatory Mediation in Ontario
Andrew Monkhouse and Tiffany He, Monkhouse Law | March 29, 2022
For almost 20 years, mediation has been required in most civil litigation proceedings in Toronto, Ottawa and Windsor. Mandatory mediation has significantly reduced the time taken to resolve cases and increased litigant satisfaction. A provincial roll-out of mandatory mediation will alleviate the current backlogs in Ontario courts and address the province’s urgent need to increase access to justice.
Learn moreDevelopments in Employment Law in 2021, and What’s Ahead in 2022
Daria (Dasha) Peregoudova and Jessica Schissler, Aird & Berlis LLP | February 23, 2022
In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic’s heavy influence on employment law, 2021 also saw the introduction of new law dealing with employees’ “right to disconnect” and the near-banning of non-competition clauses and agreements. Additionally, a series of prominent and influential decisions emerged from Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal, Superior Court and Court of Appeal relating largely to workplace culture issues. We discuss this and more in our look back at 2021, and what’s to come in 2022.
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