In Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation and Toronto District School Board, Grievance # 13-50 (Accommodation), Arbitrator Nyman held that the refusal of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to transfer the grievor, a secondary school teacher who suffered from chronic pain and fatigue, to a school located within 15 kilometers of her home to ease…
Tag: Disability
Court Finds University Erred in Placing Too Much Weight on Marks in Assessing Application by Person with Disabilities
The Ontario Divisional Court has held that a university should not have placed as significant weight on previous grades during its admissions process when considering an application submitted by a person with disabilities. Noting the “unusual” circumstances of this case, the Court remitted the consideration of the applicant’s application to the university’s Admissions Committee “for…
Federal Accessibility Legislation Now Passed
On June 21, 2019, Bill C-81, the Accessible Canada Act (Act) passed as amended by the Senate and received Royal Assent. The provisions of this Act come into force on a day to fixed by order of the Governor in Council. As we previously reported, the Act is accessibility legislation which impacts certain federally regulated…
Tribunal Confirms Human Rights Issues Need not be “Explicitly Decided” to Have Been Appropriately Dealt With in Another Proceeding
In Hewitt v. HTS Engineering Ltd., the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) addressed the issue of whether the Ontario Labour Relations Board (Board or OLRB) had appropriately dealt with the substance of an Application. The decision confirms that human rights issues do not need to be explicitly at issue in another proceeding in order to…
Federal Accessibility Legislation Tabled
On June 20, 2018, the federal government introduced Bill C-81, An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada (Bill), accessibility legislation which will apply to certain federally regulated employers. In its preamble, the Bill states that barriers to accessibility can prevent full and equal participation in society by Canadians with disabilities. If passed and among other things,…
Arbitrator Orders New Sick Leave Provisions for ETFO Teachers
In an important interest arbitration award, Arbitrator William Kaplan accepted the proposal of the Ontario Public School Boards Association (OPSBA) and the Crown to add two specific sick leave provisions to the central terms of the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) teachers’ collective agreements…
Ontario Human Rights Commission Releases New Policies on Drug and Alcohol Testing and Ableism and Discrimination Based on Disability
The Ontario Human Rights Commission has published updated guidelines on these critical issues – and what it thinks your organization should be doing…
Human Rights Tribunal Rules that Miscarriage is a Disability
In a recent decision, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (Tribunal) found that the Applicant, who had suffered a miscarriage, had a disability within the meaning of the Human Rights Code (Code). While this decision has garnered much attention in the media, its potential significance for employers going forward may not result from the particular…
Reaching Out – Eighth Edition
Dear Friends, Before everyone becomes distracted by the beautiful weather and blooming flowers, we wanted to provide you with our Spring Edition of Reaching Out. We hope that it will give you some valuable information that you can put to good use during the hazy days of summer. Leanne N. Fisher, an Associate in our…
Reaching Out – Sixth Edition
Dear Friends, With summer heating up, burning human resources issues continue to smolder as well. At Hicks Morley, we hope that you are enjoying the summer sunshine and we welcome you to the Summer 2014 Edition of Reaching Out, designed to address a number of relevant practical issues of particular interest and application to management…