The legal saga on the issue of random drug and alcohol testing of employees continues. In Suncor Energy Inc v Unifor Local 707A, the Alberta Court of Appeal sent the issue of whether Suncor’s random drug and alcohol testing policy violated the privacy rights of its unionized workers back to a new arbitration hearing before…
Publication Name: Case In Point
IMEs and the Scope of an Employer’s Communications with IME Examiners
The Ontario Court of Appeal has denied leave to appeal a judicial review of a Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) decision that found an employer’s request for an Independent Medical Examination (IME) as part of the accommodation process reasonable in the circumstances. This case further provides helpful guidance with respect to the scope of…
Union Need Not be Involved in Every Accommodation Request, Appeal Court Rules (and the Supreme Court Agrees)
Earlier this year, the British Columbia Court of Appeal issued a helpful decision for employers dealing with accommodation issues in a unionized context. On September 7, 2017, the Supreme Court of Canada denied the union’s request for leave to appeal from the B.C. Court of Appeal decision. The B.C. Court of Appeal decision considered the…
Ontario Court Declines to Consider Wrongful Dismissal Action Where Ontario Resident Worked in Michigan
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…
Employees on LTD Not Automatically Entitled to Continued Employment for Purposes of Maintaining Group Benefits Coverage
In a recent decision, Corporation of the Township of Langley v. Canada Union of Public Employees, Local 403, the British Columbia Labour Relations Board set aside and ordered the reconsideration of an arbitration decision in which the Arbitrator had ruled that terminations of several employees on long-term disability (LTD) was discriminatory. Each of the terminated…
Ontario Court of Appeal Confirms Harassment by Town Resident Outside Scope of Workplace Harassment Policy
In a recent decision, Rainy River (Town) v. Olsen, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the decision of an application judge which refused to grant a declaration that a resident of the Town of Rainy River had violated the Town’s workplace harassment policy when he harassed and defamed the mayor, council members and staff. The…
Court Orders Condo Resident to Cease and Desist her Uncivil Conduct Toward the Condo Corporation’s Staff
In a brief decision, York Condominium Corp No 163 v Robinson, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently ordered a resident/owner of a condominium unit (Resident) to cease and desist from “uncivil or illegal conduct” that violated the rules of the condominium corporation (Condo) and the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). The dispute in…
Appellate Court: Term “Probation” in Employment Contract Has A Clear Legal Meaning
The Ontario Court of Appeal recently confirmed that the term “probation” in an employment contract has a clear legal meaning. It upheld the termination of an employee during a six-month probationary period, who had been dismissed with payment of his applicable entitlements under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). Common law has long recognized a…
Supreme Court of Canada Grants Worldwide Injunction Against Google
On June 28, 2017, a majority of the Supreme Court of Canada granted a worldwide interlocutory injunction against Google, requiring it to de-index websites of a distributor, Datalink. Datalink was using those websites to illegally sell intellectual property of another company and was also in breach of several court orders. The decision indicates that Canadian…
Court Disapproves of Employee’s Surreptitious Recordings of Meetings with Employer
In Hart v Parrish & Heimbecker, a trial judge recently upheld the dismissal of a 42-year old Merchandising Manager (Plaintiff) with 15 of years service, for a series of separate incidents that he had with peers and subordinates. The Plaintiff had engaged in inappropriate conduct which included repeatedly yelling at employees, displaying excessive anger and…