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…
Tag: Workplace Accidents
Employer Obligations for Critical Injury-Fatality Reporting under OHSA
In this Toolkit, we identify key legal issues and obligations under the Ontario Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) of which employers should be aware, including the steps that should be taken upon occurrence of a critical injury or fatality.
WSIA Amendments Imposing Costs for Workplace Accidents on Clients of Temporary Help Agencies Still Awaiting Proclamation
In 2014, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 (WSIA) was amended by Bill 18, the Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, 2014, to enact a broad regulation-making power with respect to injuries incurred by temporary help agency assignment employees who are injured while working for a client of the agency. Specifically, the injury…
Supreme Court of Canada Finds Employers Have Duty to Accommodate Under Workers’ Compensation Legislation
The Supreme Court of Canada recently considered an employer’s duty to accommodate under Québec’s workers’ compensation legislation, the Act Respecting Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases (Act). In Quebec (Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité du travail) v. Caron, the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail…
Appellate Court Upholds Criminal Conviction of Project Manager for Deaths/Injury Resulting from Swing Stage Collapse
In R. v. Kazenelson, the Ontario Court of Appeal recently upheld the conviction and the sentence imposed on a project manager who had been found guilty under the Criminal Code for criminal negligence causing death and criminal negligence causing bodily harm, arising from the collapse of a swing stage in 2009. The appellant project manager…
Appellate Court Considers Scope of an Employer’s OHSA Obligations to Protect Workers
An appellate court recently overturned a decision acquitting a company which had been charged following a workplace fatality, holding that there may be circumstances where an employer is required to do more to protect its workers than what is prescribed under the regulations to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). In Ontario (Labour) v….
Stephen Shamie Quoted in The Lawyer’s Daily on Former CFL Player’s Concussion Lawsuit
The Lawyer’s Daily quoted Hicks Morley’s Stephen Shamie in a May 16, 2017 article titled “B.C. Court of Appeal dismisses former CFL player’s concussion lawsuit”…
Kathryn Meehan Quoted in Canadian HR Reporter on Women Wearing High Heels in the Workplace
Canadian HR Reporter quoted Hicks Morley’s Kathryn Meehan in an April 17, 2017 article titled “Do we need a law banning high heels?” The article explores gender discrimination in the workplace rooted in dress codes that require women to wear high heels…
Ontario Court of Justice Dismisses OHSA Charges Where Worker’s Unauthorized Act Led to Injury
In a recent decision, R. v. ABS Machining Inc., the Ontario Court of Justice dismissed Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”) charges against an employer where the injured worker’s unexpected and unauthorized act led to his injury. The decision confirms that employers can succeed in defending charges on the basis of due diligence when workers…
Court of Appeal for Ontario considers mitigation in OHSA sentencing case
In Ontario (Labour) v. Flex-N-Gate Canada Company, the Court of Appeal for Ontario found that corrective action taken by an employer to merely comply with a safety order following a workplace accident was not a mitigating factor for sentencing purposes under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”), and that fines for multiple OHSA breaches…