Justice Perell of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has certified a class action brought by Uber drivers in Uber Technologies Inc. v. Heller, finding that there were certifiable common issues with respect to whether drivers may have been misclassified as independent contractors within the meaning of the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). The…
Publication Name: Case In Point
Appellate Court Considers Employee’s Entitlement to Incentive Compensation in Light of Ocean Nutrition; Majority Affirms Original Decision
In Manastersky v. Royal Bank of Canada, a majority of the Ontario Court of Appeal confirmed its earlier finding that a trial judge had erred when he found a former executive was presumptively entitled to incentive compensation during the reasonable notice period. Background Facts During his employment with RBC Dominion Securities Inc. (RBCDS), Mr. Manastersky…
Ontario Superior Court Refuses to Certify Proposed Employment Class Action
In Curtis v Medcan Health Management Inc., Justice Perell of the Ontario Superior Court refused to certify a proposed class action related to vacation and statutory holiday pay, finding that a class proceeding would not be the preferable procedure for the resolution of common issues. The Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA) requires that employees receive…
Divisional Court Finds “Permanent Residence” Not a Protected Ground under Ontario Human Rights Code
In the recently released decision of Imperial Oil Limited v. Haseeb, a majority of the Divisional Court (Court) quashed a decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) which treated “permanent residence” as intrinsically included in the protected ground of “citizenship.” The majority held that such an expansion to the ground of “citizenship” was…
Arbitrator Upholds Employers’ Mandatory COVID-19 Testing Program
In Ellisdon Construction Ltd. v Labourers’ International Union of North America, Local 183, Arbitrator Kitchen recently upheld the Abbott Panbio Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Screening Program implemented by EllisDon, a construction and building services company, at many of its worksites. Arbitrator Kitchen stated that “[w]hen one weighs the intrusiveness of the rapid test against the objective…
Court Rules that Calculation of Severance Under ESA is not Limited to Ontario Payroll
In Hawkes v Max Aicher, the Divisional Court set aside an Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) decision and found that the calculation of payroll for the purposes of determining an employee’s severance entitlement under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) should be based on the combined payroll of the Ontario employer and its global parent…
Appellate Court Upholds Jury Award of $150,000 Punitive Damages Against Employer
In a recent decision, Eynon v. Simplicity Air Ltd., the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a punitive damages award of $150,000 against an employer for the actions of two of its supervisors after an employee’s workplace injury. The appeal to the Court of Appeal was from a jury award of punitive damages. The respondent employee…
Court Finds IDEL Regulation Under ESA Precludes Constructive Dismissal Claim at Common Law
In Taylor v. Hanley Hospitality Inc., the Ontario Superior Court considered the interaction between the Infectious Disease Emergency Leave regulation (IDEL Regulation) made under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) and a claim for constructive dismissal at common law. It held that the IDEL Regulation precludes a constructive dismissal claim where employees’ hours are reduced…
British Columbia Supreme Court Finds CERB Amounts Should Be Deducted from Wrongful Dismissal Damages
On May 28, 2021, the British Columbia Supreme Court (Court) released its decision in Hogan v. 1187938 B.C. Ltd., finding that the plaintiff had been constructively dismissed after being temporarily laid off at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic by the defendant, which operated a car dealership (Dealership). The plaintiff was laid off on March…
Superior Court Finds Ontario’s IDEL Regulation Does Not Preclude Constructive Dismissal Claim at Common Law
The Ontario Superior Court recently considered the interaction of the Infectious Disease Emergency Leave Regulation (IDEL Regulation) made under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA)and a claim for constructive dismissal at common law. In Coutinho v. Ocular Health Centre Ltd., the Court dismissed the employer’s position that the IDEL Regulation constituted a defence to a…