Practice Area: Human Rights

FTR Quarterly – Issue 9

· 16 min read

In This Issue Sexual Harassment: Best Practices for Proactive Employers and Service Providers FTRQ&A – Customer-to-Customer Harassment: Service Provider Liability Questions, Answered Tips for Conducting Harassment Investigations Sexual Harassment and Your Organization: Best Practice Tips for Boards of Directors For Your Workplace, At Your Workplace: Hicks Morley’s On-Site Learn-by-Doing Training Programs Featured Articles Sexual Harassment:…

Workplace Law in Canada: A Primer

· 1 min read

This Guide provides American employers with an introduction to employment laws and regulations that affect businesses in Canada. It outlines an overview of the main differences between Canadian and U.S. workplace laws.

Medical Marijuana in Your Workplace: Employer FAQs

· 4 min read

Today – April 20 (4/20) – marks cannabis culture’s unofficial day of celebration, and we thought “weed” mark the occasion by answering a few common employer questions. When do I have to accommodate medical marijuana? While employers have no obligation to permit recreational consumption of marijuana at work or tolerate impairment, they must appropriately accommodate…

Bill Requiring Diversity Disclosure by Federal Corporations Passes Third Reading in Senate

· 2 min read

Diversity on corporate boards has been widely discussed in recent years. On March 22, 2018, Bill C-25, An Act to amend the Canada Business Corporations Act, the Canada Cooperatives Act, the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, and the Competition Act, passed its third reading in the Senate. Part 1 of Bill C-25 imposes obligations on federal…

Ontario’s Proposed New Anti-Racism Standards

· 6 min read

As we previously reported, the Ontario Anti -Racism Act (ARA) came into force on June 1, 2017. One of the purposes behind the ARA is to allow certain organizations to collect information that will be used to identify and monitor systematic racism and racial disparities for the purpose of eliminating systemic racism and advancing racial…

HRTO Finds No Discrimination Where Use of Medical Marijuana at Worksite Breached Zero Tolerance Policy

· 4 min read

In Aitchison v L & L Painting and Decorating Ltd., the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) found that an employer did not discriminate against the applicant when his employment was terminated for smoking marijuana while at work, which was contrary to the employer’s “zero tolerance” policy. The applicant was employed as a seasonal painter…

Are Service Providers Liable for Harassment Between Customers? The Divisional Court Weighs In

· 5 min read

In City of Toronto v. Josephs, the Divisional Court reviewed a recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) and specifically addressed the question of a service provider’s liability for harassment issues arising between customers. In so doing, the Court has provided useful guidance for organizations that provide services to the public, and…