Insights

Case In Point

Appellate Court Upholds Termination for Frustration, Duty to Accommodate Not Triggered

· 5 min read
By: Edward J. O’Dwyer

In its recent decision Katz et al. v. Clarke, 2019 ONSC 2188, the Ontario Divisional Court set aside an order of a motion judge, granted the defendant’s summary judgment motion and dismissed the plaintiff’s action. The decision involves important principles relating to frustration of contract and the duty to accommodate a disabled employee. The Court…

Case In Point

Ontario Court Declines to Consider Wrongful Dismissal Action Where Ontario Resident Worked in Michigan

· 4 min read
By: Edward J. O’Dwyer

In its recent decision in Koutros v Persico USA Inc., the Ontario Superior Court of Justice set aside the service of a Statement of Claim and stayed an action on the basis that Michigan (not Ontario) was the appropriate jurisdiction in which to dispute the termination of an employment contract. The plaintiff lived near Windsor…

Case In Point

Fixed-Term Contract Termination Provision Violates ESA, Says Appeal Court

· 4 min read
By: Edward J. O’Dwyer

The Ontario Court of Appeal has again weighed in on the issue of termination provisions in employment contracts. By way of background, we recently reported on the February 2017 decision of the Court of Appeal in Wood v Fred Deeley Imports Ltd. In that case, the Court reversed a motion judge’s conclusion that a termination…

FTR Now

WSIAT Finds WSIB’s Fatal Claim Premium Adjustment Policy Contrary to WSIA

· 8 min read
By: Jodi Gallagher Healy, Edward J. O’Dwyer, David J. Bannon, Tierney Read Grieve

In a recent decision, the majority of a Workplace Safety and Insurance Tribunal (Tribunal) Panel ruled that the WSIB’s Fatal…

FTR Now

An Update on WSIB Rate Framework Reform

· 4 min read
By: Jodi Gallagher Healy, Edward J. O’Dwyer

In March, 2015, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“WSIB”) proposed a new Rate Framework (“Proposed Framework”) which, if adopted, would fundamentally change the way the WSIB classifies Schedule 1 employers and sets their premium rates (see our FTR Nows of April 17, 2015 “WSIB Rate Framework Reform: Stakeholder Input Invited” and August 21, 2015 “An…

Reaching Out

Reaching Out – Ninth Edition

· 21 min read
By: Edward J. O’Dwyer, Michael S. Smyth, Allison E. MacIsaac, Njeri Damali Sojourner-Campbell, Paul Migicovsky

Dear Friends, It has been an eventful few months since our Spring Edition of Reaching Out. With the playoff run by the Blue Jays and the federal election behind us, we are pleased to provide the Fall Edition of Reaching Out. Allison E. MacIsaac reviews current challenges related to gender identity and gender expression in the…

FTR Now

An Update on WSIB Rate Framework Reform

· 5 min read
By: Jodi Gallagher Healy, Edward J. O’Dwyer

In March 2015, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“WSIB”) released a preliminary Rate Framework (“Proposed Framework”) which, if adopted, would fundamentally change the way the WSIB classifies Schedule 1 employers and sets their premium rates (see our FTR Now of April 17, 2015 “WSIB Rate Framework Reform: Stakeholder Input Invited”). At the same time,…