If an employer dismisses an employee without cause, pays the employee a considerable amount for severance, and the parties sign a full and final mutual release absolving each other from any further claims, can the employer, upon discovering the fact that the employee had lied about his actions while employed, successfully sue the employee for the recovery of the severance funds?
Yes, says the Court of Appeal for Ontario in the case of York University v. Markicevic, 2018 ONCA 893 (CanLII).
Does frustration of contract for illness or injury require an act of an employer?
In Hoekstra v Rehability Occupational Therapy Inc., 2019 ONSC 562 (CanLII), Justice Alissa K. Mitchell of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that it did not.
In the same decision, the court ruled that the simple failure of the employer to pay the dismissed employee his minimum statutory entitlements on termination was not enough to trigger an award of punitive damages.
Does the inability to reliably test for cannabis create an undue hardship for employers with respect to their duty to accommodate the use of medical marijuana?
In International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1620 v. Lower Churchill Transmission Construction Employers' Association Inc., 2019 NLSC 48 (CanLII), a judge of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador found to be reasonable a labour arbitrator’s earlier decision that it did.
“A fiduciary who knows about wrongdoing committed against the beneficiary has a duty to tell the beneficiary.” That important lesson was the key takeaway from a decision of the Court of Appeal for Ontario upholding a termination of employment for just cause: Dunsmuir v. Royal Group, Inc., 2018 ONCA 773 (CanLII)
Does a termination clause that only allows an employer to terminate an employee without notice for “just cause” comply with the provisions of the Ontario Employment Standards Act, 2000?
In the case of Khashaba v. Procom Consultants Group Ltd., 2018 ONSC 7617, the Honourable Justice Carole J. Brown of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held that it does not.
Should the payroll of employees outside Ontario be included in the calculation of the payroll under section 64 of the Employment Standards Act, 2000?
According to a decision of the Ontario Labour Relations Board, released late in 2018, Doug Hawkes v. Max Aicher (North America) Limited, 2018 CanLII 125999 (ON LRB), it is only Ontario-based employment and operations that is captured by section 3 and therefore section 64 of the ESA.
This decision is a victory for large, multijurisdictional employers with more limited operations in Ontario.
NOTE: This decision was set aside by a decision of the Ontario Divisional Court. For my summary of that decision see Pointe Finale! Calculation of "Payroll" for Severance Purposes Not Limited to Just Ontario: Divisional Court.
Is it a discriminatory practice and potential breach of the Ontario Human Right Code for a nursing home to prohibit nurses from stealing narcotics?
In the case of Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Sunnyside Home) v Ontario Nurses’ Association, 2019 CanLII 433 (ON LA), a labour arbitrator ruled that it was. Moreover, the arbitrator ordered that the registered nurse, who conceded that her employment had been terminated for just cause, reinstated to her employment.
