In R. v. Kazenelson, the Ontario Court of Appeal recently upheld the conviction and the sentence imposed on a project manager who had been found guilty under the Criminal Code for criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm, arising from the collapse of a swing stage in 2009. The appellant project manager…
Practice Area: Litigation
Ontario Court of Appeal Rules (Again) on the Enforceability of an ESA-Only Termination Clause
The Ontario Court of Appeal has once again considered a minimum entitlements clause in an employment contract and ruled it to be generally enforceable. In Nemeth v Hatch Ltd., an employee with 19 years service was dismissed with 8 weeks’ notice of termination and 19.42 weeks’ salary as severance pay, as well as continued benefits…
Appellate Court Considers Scope of an Employer’s OHSA Obligations to Protect Workers
An appellate court recently overturned a decision acquitting a company which had been charged following a workplace fatality, holding that there may be circumstances where an employer is required to do more to protect its workers than what is prescribed under the regulations to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). In Ontario (Labour) v….
Supreme Court of Canada Recognizes Reasonable Expectation of Privacy in Digital Communications
There has been significant discussion of the Supreme Court of Canada’s decisions in R v Jones and R v Marakah – cases in which the Court recognized a reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages that police obtained from others. In Jones, the police obtained messages from a telecom company and in Marakah the police…
FTR Quarterly – Issue 8
In This Issue 10 Top Developments in Human Resources Law in 2017 The Road Ahead: Key 2018 Implementation Dates Cross-Border Expertise Featured Articles 10 Top Developments in Human Resources Law in 2017 By: Amanda Lawrence-Patel 2017 was quite a year for news – with harassment revelations that have rocked institutions across North America, a new…
Raising the Bar – Sixteenth Edition
In this edition, we bring you quick summaries of key cases relating to limits on partial summary judgment, the importance of pleadings and the issues raised by inadvertent disclosure of privileged documents.
Ontario Court Confirms that “Location Matters” in Charter Claims
In Thain v. Pattison Outdoor Advertising LP, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice stayed an Ontario resident’s freedom of expression claim under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Charter), finding that the Court lacked jurisdiction over the subject matter of the litigation and that “[t]he interests of justice overwhelmingly favour Manitoba as the appropriate and…
Court of Appeal Considers Continuity of Employment Where Employer Purchased Some Assets of Former Employer
In Krishnamoorthy v. Olympus Canada Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal recently considered the issue of continuity of an employee’s employment following the sale of a business, and in particular, where the sale of business involves the acquisition of only some of the vendor company’s assets. The plaintiff, Krishnamoorthy, became employed with Carsen Group in…
Supreme Court of Canada Affirms Management Rights Must Be Exercised Reasonably and Consistently with the Collective Agreement
It is critical for employers in the unionized context to remember that when creating policies or workplace rules as an exercise of management rights, the rule must constitute a reasonable “balancing of interests” and must be consistent with the collective agreement. In Association of Justice Counsel v. Canada (Attorney General), the Supreme Court of Canada…
FTR Quarterly – Issue 7
In This Issue Extended EI Benefits – Top 3 Ways Your Workplace Could be Affected FTRQ&A – Chronic Mental Stress Pension Plan Funding Reform: At the Precipice Pension, Benefits & Executive Compensation Featured Articles Extended EI Benefits – Top 3 Ways Your Workplace Could be Affected By: Henry Dinsdale A number of recent changes to the…