Practice Area: Human Rights

Ontario Divisional Court Finds Group Living Home Did Not Discriminate Against Disabled Resident by Enforcing a No Visitor Policy During the COVID-19 Outbreak

· 7 min read

On September 22, 2022, the Ontario Divisional Court (Court) released Empower Simcoe v. JL, in which the Court set aside decisions of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal). The Court held that Empower Simcoe’s COVID-19 visitor policy (Policy), which temporarily limited visits to essential personnel and was later updated to allow outdoor family visits…

Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario Determines It Has Concurrent Jurisdiction with Labour Arbitrators to Decide Human Rights Claims

· 5 min read

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) has determined that it has concurrent jurisdiction to decide claims of discrimination and harassment falling within the scope of a collective agreement governed by the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and the Police Services Act (PSA). The decision addresses a significant question of law arising from the 2021 decision…

Employers Take Note: Employees Entitled to Paid Time Off to Vote in Upcoming Municipal Election

· 3 min read

Ontario-wide municipal elections will be held on Monday, October 24, 2022, and voting hours will run from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Employers should be aware that under the Municipal Elections Act, 1996 (Act), all employees who are eligible to vote in the election are entitled to three consecutive hours during voting hours on election day to cast their…

Nigel McKechnie

Nigel has a keen interest in trial advocacy. He has developed an expertise in the rules of evidence and litigation strategy, and in applying the Rules of Civil Procedure.

Recent Case of Note from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario

· 6 min read

Welcome to our newest edition of the School Board Update. In this Update we review a recent decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) concerning allegations of discrimination with respect to educational services because of sex and gender identity contrary to the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code). We hope you find this summary…

Benefits After 65: Arbitrator Dismisses Grievance Challenging Age 65 LTD Cut-off but Awards Life Insurance Coverage Based on Collective Agreement

· 9 min read

An Ontario labour arbitrator has upheld a grievance challenging the reduction of life insurance coverage for employees who die after having reached age 65, finding that the relevant provision of the insurance policy had not been incorporated into the collective agreement. In the same decision, the arbitrator dismissed two policy grievances challenging the termination of…

Brooklyn Hallam

Brooklyn is a a labour and employment lawyer in Hicks Morley’s Waterloo office. She offers advice and representation to employers and management in the public and the private sectors for a wide range of labour, employment and human rights issues.