Employers and human resource professionals will undoubtedly remember 2022 as another year shaped by the pandemic.
But…there were also legal developments in 2022 that were not related to COVID-19. In this FTR Now, we look at some of the past year’s notable “non-pandemic” cases and legislative developments.
On November 29, 2022, the British Columbia Court of Appeal released Yates v. Langley Motor Sport Centre Ltd., in which the Court of Appeal ruled that payments received by an employee under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) should not be deducted from wrongful dismissal damages. The Court of Appeal held that broader policy considerations,…
In Green v National Steel Car Ltd., the Human Rights Tribunal Ontario (HRTO) found that the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) has the direct authority to apply the Human Rights Code (Code) and to determine the appropriate accommodation of medical restrictions. The application before the HRTO on the same issue, therefore, had been…
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…
The case of Yenovkian v. Gulian is a significant case that, for the first time in Canada, has recognized a new privacy tort – “publicity placing a person in a false light.” The decision was decided by Justice Kristjanson of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and released in late 2019. The case arose out…
In This Issue: Protection in the Face of Employee Fraud, Key Human Resources Decisions in in 2019 and Cases to Monitor in 2020 and more!
In McGuinty v. 1845035 Ontario Inc. (McGuinty Funeral Home), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice awarded a plaintiff over $1.27 million in damages for constructive dismissal after only one year had elapsed of a 10 year consulting services agreement (Agreement). In the absence of a cancellation provision, the defendant was obligated to pay the Agreement…
Hicks Morley’s Thomas Agnew authored an article in Benefits Canada titled “Constructive Dismissal and the Corresponding Duty to Mitigate Damages.” In a recent case, the Ontario Superior Court found an employee failed to mitigate damages when he refused a return-to-work offer from his employer, with whom he had a good working relationship. This case serves as an important…
In Merrifield v. Canada (Attorney General), the Ontario Court of Appeal found that a “tort of harassment” does not exist in Ontario. The plaintiff/respondent was hired as a Constable in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 2005. He was promoted to Corporal in 2009 and then to Sergeant in 2014. In June 2007, he…
The decision of a summary judgment motion judge who ordered a former employee to pay his former employer $20 million in damages has been overturned by the Court of Appeal. In Plate v. Atlas Copco Canada Inc., the Court held that the motion judge erred when he found a trial was not necessary and proceeded…
