Answering the Question "Can my employer..."

“Can my employer…” those three little words are the most common start to any question asked of an employment lawyer by a worker. “Can we” is the most common start to questions asked of an employment lawyer by management. The purpose of this post is to address the issue of what employers can do and what am employee’s rights and response can be.

Ontario Small Claims Court Gains New Powers to Dismiss Claims

As of July 1, 2014, the Ontario Small Claims Court has the power to summarily dismiss any claim made to it, “if the action appears on its face to be inflammatory, a waste of time, a nuisance or an abuse of the court’s process.” This change will be welcomed by those who practice in the Small Claims Court and are sometimes forced to respond to such claims.

Human Rights Tribunal Not The Place To Ask For Severance

Does the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) have the legal ability (“jurisdiction”) to award severance pay? According to a recent decision from the Divisional Court (a branch of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, and a type of court of appeal), Campbell v. Revera Retirement LP, 2014 ONSC 3233 (CanLII), the answer is that it is probably best to look elsewhere.

The case is an important reminder to potential plaintiffs to pick the proper venue for advancing one’s case.

Employee's Invasion of Customer's Privacy can be Employer's Responsibility

Can an employer be held legally responsible if one of its employees deliberately invades upon the privacy of the employer’s customers? That question was one of the key issues in the recently decided class action certification motion in Evans v. The Bank of Nova Scotia, 2014 ONSC 2135 (CanLII).

The case involves a class action proceeding against the Bank of Nova Scotia and one of its former employees for breaching the privacy of the Bank’s customers.

The case was filed in Ottawa and the certification motion was decided by the Honourable Mr. Justice Robert Smith of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, sitting at Ottawa.

Sean Bawden, editor and primary author of this blog, formerly worked with plaintiff’s counsel and assisted in the formative stages of the case before transferring to Kelly Santini.

While the court did not expressly say that the answer to the question raised at the start of this post was “yes,” it did expressly refuse to say that the answer to the question is “no.”

Employment Law Considerations When Selling Your Business

For many, the prospect of retirement is a welcome thought. Perhaps you will finally have more time to spend with your spouse, children, or grandchildren. For others, retirement is an opportunity to catch up on golf, travelling, or just plain doing nothing.

For many business owners, including professionals such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants, the means by which to finance such a retirement have often come by way of a sale of one’s business or practice. A book of business can have incredible value to a willing purchaser and certainly our firm has helped several professionals successfully sell their business.

While my colleagues in Kelly Santini LLP's business law group would be more than happy to be of service to you with respects to the legalities of such a sale, the purpose of this post is to consider the employment law considerations of selling a business; because, in addition to being a successful business owner and professional, most such individuals are also employers.

Something that most business owners fail to appreciate is that, while, for all the years that one’s loyal staff has been an asset, for potential purchasers, long-service employees can be an costly liability.

For employment-law considerations when buying a business, consider the post:
Continuity of Employment Following the Sale of a Business

This post will look at:

1. What business owners / employers need to know about the right to end employment;
2. What business owners / employers need to know about written employment contracts; and
3. What business owners / employers need to know about human rights legislation in the employment context.