Provided strategic advice to school board clients during in-camera board meetings, and to municipal clients during closed-session council meetings.
Industry: School Boards
Recent Cases of Note
Welcome to our latest edition of the School Board Update. In this update we discuss two significant decisions. The first is an arbitration decision where the grievor alleged the Ottawa Catholic School Board failed to accommodate her and discriminated against her on the basis of her age by requiring her to teach on site rather…
Agatha Suszek
Agatha Suszek is a labour and employment lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Toronto office. She represents and advises employers on a variety of matters related to employment law and human rights. She regularly advises her clients on a number of workplace-related issues including privacy, discrimination, accommodation and discipline. Agatha serves a variety of clients including private companies and public institutions.
Regularly advises a large school board in labour matters, many of which involve serial grievors who have a tendency of commencing litigation in several forums at once.
Regularly advises a large school board in labour matters, many of which involve serial grievors who have a tendency of commencing litigation in several forums at once.
Ontario Proposes Significant Amendments Impacting School Board Sector
On April 17, 2023, the Ontario government introduced Bill 98, Better Schools and Student Outcomes Act, 2023 for First Reading. If passed, Bill 98 would amend the Education Act, the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 and the Early Childhood Educators Act, 2007. The government has invited interested stakeholders to comment on the proposed amendments…
Did You Ask to Share That? Arbitrator Comments on School Board’s Ability to Share Medical Information with Third Party
In Toronto Catholic District School Board v Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 1328, Arbitrator Goodfellow recently issued a local arbitration decision concerning the administration of the Board’s sick leave and short-term disability plans. The hearing related to multiple grievances all touching on similar issues. Arbitrator Goodfellow specifically answered two questions: (i) Could the Board…
Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA): 2023 Education Labour Relations and Human Resources Symposium
The OPSBA Education Labour Relations and Human Resources Symposium features informative keynote speakers, panels and workshops on managing human resources issues in the media, workplace investigations, safe schools, collective bargaining, social media in the workplace, employment equity and employee wellness.
Exclusions and Competing Rights in Schools
Educators and school boards have an obligation to provide every student with meaningful and equitable access to an education while taking reasonable measures to keep all students and staff safe from foreseeable harm. To that end, students with disabilities are entitled to reasonable accommodation in their learning environments. But what happens when the behaviour of these students creates safety issues for themselves, other students and school staff? How can special educators and administrators deal with these increasingly common occurrences while managing the competing rights of both students and staff under the Education Act, Human Rights Code and Occupational Health and Safety Act?
Stephanie J. Savoni
Stephanie Savoni is counsel to Hicks Morley in its Toronto office, and has been working in the field of workplace safety and insurance law for over 22 years. Her practice has been dedicated exclusively to representing employers in workplace safety and insurance law matters for the past 19 years.
Ontario Human Rights Commission Strategic Plan and the Right to Read
On January 17, 2023, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) released a new strategic plan for 2023 to 2025, entitled Human Rights First: A plan for belonging in Ontario. It centres around five priorities which include Indigenous reconciliation, the criminal justice system and the education system. In this School Board Update, we focus on the OHRC’s priorities with respect to the education system.