The Supreme Court of Canada will be delivering a decision likely to provide further clarity on the scope of the jurisdiction of British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal) to hear a complaint alleging discrimination regarding employment involving parties who work for different employers. On October 13, 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada granted leave to…
Publication Name: Case In Point
Duty to Accommodate Does Not Extend to Permitting Excessive Employee Absenteeism
In Ontario Public Service Employees Union v Ontario (Children and Youth Services), the Divisional Court recently affirmed that an employer’s duty to accommodate does not extend to allowing an employee not to work, stating that the “purpose of the duty to accommodate is to allow employees to fulfill their employment duties, not to allow employees not…
Appellate Court Finds Non-Compete Clause Unreasonable and Overly Broad
In a recent decision regarding the enforceability of a restrictive covenant, Donaldson Travel Inc. v. Murphy, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the decision of a motion judge that the restrictive covenant at issue constituted an unenforceable non-compete clause…
Federal Privacy Commissioner Uses Ashley Madison Incident to Promote Good Information Governance
Organizations subject to Canadian privacy law should be aware that the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (together with the Australian Information Commissioner) recently issued a report on the 2015 breach of the Ashley Madison website – a breach that affected nearly 35 million individuals who had used the online dating site for adults…
Expelling a Partner: An Expensive Cautionary Tale for Partnerships
In a cautionary tale for partnerships large and small, the Ontario Superior Court has found that BDO Canada LLP (BDO) breached the terms of its Partnership Agreement (Agreement) and its fiduciary duty when it required Tim Ludwig (Ludwig) to retire from the partnership. Damages in excess of $1.3 million were awarded. In Tim Ludwig PC…
Employer’s Egregious Mistreatment of Disabled Employee Leads to Increase in Damages Award
In a recent wrongful dismissal case, Strudwick v. Applied Consumer & Clinical Evaluations Inc., the Court of Appeal increased the amount of damages awarded to an employee from $113,782 to $240,000, for what the Court of Appeal described as “a marked departure from any conceivable standard of decent behaviour” in an employer’s treatment of its employee…
Appellate Court Considers Intentions of Parties, Finds an ESA-Only Termination Clause Valid
We previously reported on a decision in which a motion judge of the Ontario Superior Court considered…
Accrual of Service or Seniority Based on “Days Worked” is Not Discriminatory, Tribunal Rules
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) recently issued a decision of particular interest to employers with groups of employees who, although covered by a collective agreement, accrue service…
Appellate Court Finds Settlement for Payment of Bonus Enforceable Despite Breach of Non-Compete Clause
The Court of Appeal recently upheld a motion judge’s finding that an employer was required to pay a bonus despite the fact that the dismissed employee was in breach of a non-compete clause. In Wilson v. Northwest Value Partners Inc., the parties entered into a settlement at mediation regarding Wilson’s claim for benefits (inclusive of…
Full Payout to End of Fixed Term Contract in Case of Early Termination, No Duty to Mitigate
In Howard v. Benson Group Inc. (The Benson Group Inc.), the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that in the absence of an express provision specifying a pre-determined notice period or pay in lieu (for early termination without cause), on the early termination of a fixed term contract an employee is entitled to the wages the…