The purpose of this session is to provide in-house counsel with updates on key developments in labour arbitration law and to discuss how to apply lessons drawn from key cases to strengthen policy, disciplinary and labour relations decisions in the following areas: Workplace Violence and Harassment: The potential areas of non-compliance that every employer should…
Tag: Arbitration
Arbitrator Upholds Dismissal of Grievor for Posting Vicious Comments about Co-Worker on Facebook
In a recent labour arbitration award, Arbitrator Laura Trachuk upheld the dismissal of a three and one-half year employee for posting vicious, humiliating and threatening comments about a co-worker on Facebook. While the Arbitrator left many specifics out of her decision in order to protect the identities of those involved, this decision serves as an…
Recent Award on DECE Breaks: Implications for School Boards
In an arbitration award released on January 17, 2014, Arbitrator George Surdykowski ruled that Designated Early Childhood Educators (“DECEs”) may not be scheduled to take breaks during the instructional day “unless appropriate and permissible replacement arrangements are made”. The Award makes it clear that such “arrangements” must involve the scheduling of a “replacement DECE” so…
Confidentiality Provisions: Important, Effective and Enforceable
In most unionized workplaces, many grievances are settled before the parties present their evidence and before an arbitrator issues a public decision. In most instances, when a grievance is settled, the terms of that settlement are recorded in written form. The parties often agree that the settlement must be kept confidential and include a confidentiality…
John Saunders Quoted in The London Free Press
Hicks Morley’s John Saunders was quoted in the August 27, 2013 edition of The London Free Press in an article entitled, “Toronto attorney John Saunders argues during arbitration hearing that the old rules are gone and some non-core services should be outsourced.” The article discusses contract arbitration hearings regarding proposed retroactive wage hikes for the…
John Saunders Mentioned in The Globe and Mail
Hicks Morley’s John Saunders was mentioned in the August 8, 2013 edition of The Globe and Mail in Margaret Wente’s article entitled, “A nation of $100,000 firefighters.” Highlighting municipal budgets’ contentions with fire departments, the article attributes firefighters’ high wages and substantive increases to arbitration settlements. Paraphrasing Saunders, “There’s no good reason for salaries to…
The Duty to Accommodate and Poor Workplace Performance
What happens when an employee with physical restrictions is placed in a position consistent with those restrictions and provided with sufficient training, but is unable to perform the functions of that position? An Ontario arbitrator recently found that an employee’s inability to perform in such a position was unrelated to her disability, and that she…
Grievor’s Poor Performance in Modified Work Not Due to Disability, Employer Met its Duty to Accommodate
Arbitrator Jasbir Parmar has found that an employer met its duty to accommodate when it placed a grievor in a position that was within her physical restrictions and provided her with ample training. The fact her performance was inadequate in the position was not due to her disability, and it was appropriate for the employer…
Court Upholds Discharge for Sexual Harassment
In a recent decision, the Ontario Divisional Court found that the discharge of an employee (grievor) who had sexually harassed a co-worker was an appropriate penalty. An arbitrator’s decision reinstating the grievor had relied on irrelevant factors and therefore fell outside the range of possible defensible outcomes. The irrelevant factors considered by the arbitrator included…
Written Notice of Termination Upheld Where Employees Could Not Work during Notice Period
Two disabled employees who were unable to work during a termination notice period were recently provided with written notice of termination under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”), rather than termination pay. At arbitration, they argued that the employer had breached the ESA as well as the Ontario Human Rights Code (“Code”) by failing to…