The recent dismissal by the Supreme Court of Canada of an employee’s leave to appeal an appellate decision which upheld the enforceability of a minimum standards-only termination clause was good news for employers…
Author: Hicks Morley
Regulation Classifying Employers Under WSIA Amended
On December 16, 2016, the Ontario government filed O. Reg. 470/16, amending O. Reg. 175/98 “General” made under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (Act)…
Default Judgment Giving Rise to New Tort of “Public Disclosure of Embarrassing Private Facts” Set Aside
Early in 2016, we reported on a case in which the Ontario Superior Court articulated a new private tort: “public disclosure of embarrassing private facts.” The plaintiff in that case had been coaxed by a former boyfriend (the defendant) to send him a sexually explicit video of herself. Despite promising the plaintiff confidentiality, the defendant…
Tribunal Sets Out New Test for “Danger” under Canada Labour Code
In an important decision for all federally regulated employers, the Occupational Health and Safety Tribunal of Canada (OHSTC) released its first decision interpreting the new definition of “danger” under the Canada Labour Code (Code)…
Procedural Power of Courts Not Constrained by PIPEDA
In Royal Bank of Canada v. Trang, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) does not interfere with the procedural powers of a court. The decision arose out of a situation in which past judicial interpretation and application of PIPEDA had impeded the ability of the…
Reminder: Universities and Colleges to Have Student-Specific Sexual Violence Policies in Place by January 1, 2017
On January 1, 2017, amendments to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities Act and the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005 made by Bill 132 (Sexual Violence and Harassment Action Plan Act (Supporting Survivors and Challenging Sexual Violence and Harassment), 2015) come into force…
An Update on “Minimum Standards Only” Termination Clauses
The Ontario Superior Court has issued several decisions over the past few years which have found “minimum standards only” termination provisions in employment contracts to be unenforceable. Thus, employers are in the unexpected position of being liable for reasonable notice at common law…
Ten Incident Response Tips – Part 2
In Part 1 of this two-part series on data security incident response, we identified five “norms” to guide your incident response process…
Appellate Court Clarifies Use of Subsequent Conduct Evidence in Resolving Ambiguous Contract
In an important decision regarding the law of contractual interpretation, Shewchuk v. Blackmont Capital Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal considered when the subsequent conduct of parties can be considered in interpreting a contract made between those parties…
Ten Incident Response Tips – Part 1
Responding to a data security incident is as much art as science. Whatever size your organization and whatever risks you face, you should have a detailed incident response plan to guide the efforts of a defined incident response team…