Author: Hicks Morley

Is it Appropriate to Reinstate an Employee Whose Employment Was Terminated as a Result of Sexual Harassment?

· 3 min read

In Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada v. CEP, Loc. 3011, the Ontario Divisional Court concluded it was not. The grievor, a mail room clerk with six years seniority, tried to kiss a female cleaner. When she pushed him away, he grabbed her buttocks. The female worker reported the incident and stated that…

A Lower Cover Charge for Women on “Ladies Night” is not Discriminatory

· 2 min read

In the recent decision Maclean v. The Barking Frog, Mr. Maclean brought an application to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in which he alleged that a bar discriminated against him by charging men a higher entry fee than women on “ladies night.” The application was dismissed after a summary hearing on the basis that…

An Employer’s ESA Obligation During Notice Period Where Employees Cannot Work During That Period

· 4 min read

Arbitrator Randy Levinson recently found that an employer complied with the provisions of the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) by providing written notice of termination, rather than termination pay, to two employees who could not work during the termination notice period due to disability. The case involved the termination of two employees who were on…

New High Water Mark for Punitive Damages Award: $4.5 Million

· 3 min read

A recent decision of the Court of Queen’s Bench for Saskatchewan, which granted an injured worker $4.5 million in punitive damages, has garnered considerable media attention. The plaintiff, Mr. Branco, was a Canadian citizen. He sued his employer (Kumtor, owned by Saskatchewan-based Cameco) and insurers AIG and Zurich Life in relation to benefits arising from…

Saskatchewan Court of Appeal Finds Right to Strike Not Protected by Freedom of Association Guarantee in Charter

· 2 min read

A five-member panel of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has overturned a lower court decision which had found in part that restrictions on the right to strike in The Public Service Essential Services Act infringed the freedom of association guarantee in section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court of Appeal…

Federal Appeals Officer Confirms Work Refusal Must Be Based on More Than “Hypothesis or Conjecture”

· 2 min read

The Occupational Health and Safety Tribunal Canada has found that there was insufficient evidence of radiation contamination on parcels arriving from Japan after the Fukushima nuclear incident in 2011 to warrant a work refusal at a mail sorting facility. For a reasonable expectation of danger to exist, there must be more than hypothesis or conjecture….

Termination of Employee Following Work Refusal Results in Finding of Reprisal

· 2 min read

The Ontario Labour Relations Board has found an employer violated the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”) when it immediately terminated an employee instead of taking any steps whatsoever to investigate a work refusal. The employee was a probationary truck driver who had worked with the employer for three months. He felt that the truck…

Supreme Court of Canada Denies Leave to Appeal in Carrigan

· 1 min read

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada denied leave to appeal from the Ontario Court of Appeal decision in Carrigan v. Carrigan.  The Court of Appeal’s decision awarded the payment of the pre-retirement death benefit payable under an Ontario registered pension plan to a member’s designated beneficiaries rather than to his common law spouse (Ms Quinn),…

HRTO Renders Significant Remedies Decision

· 2 min read

In the recent decision of Fair v. Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, a non-union employee was reinstated to employment with back pay, despite having been away from the workplace for nearly a decade. The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario explicitly rejected the employer’s argument that it would be unfair to order reinstatement in light of the…