Sunday 9 October 2022

Do You Have a Second to Talk About Secondments?

What is the effect of the termination of a secondment agreement if an employee expressly remains an employee of his original employer?

In Nader v. University Health Network, 2022 ONSC 447 (CanLII), the dismissed employee attempted to argue that the effect of the termination of both his secondment agreement and his employment was that he was entitled to wrongful dismissal damages from both the entity to which he had been seconded and his original employer.

Justice William Black of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice disagreed.

Saturday 17 September 2022

Employees Cannot Waive Right to Compensation for Workplace Injury

Can a worker waive his right to compensation for a workplace injury?

In Fleming v. Massey, 2016 ONCA 70, the Court of Appeal for Ontario held that based on the wording of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, S.O. 1997, c. 16, Sch. A, the purpose for which workers compensation laws were created, and public policy considerations, workers cannot waive or release their employers from liability for damages caused by a workplace accident.

Friday 29 July 2022

Court of Appeal Confirms Public School Teachers are Protected from Unreasonable Search and Seizure by Section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Are public school teachers protected from unreasonable search and seizure by section 8 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms if the search and seizure is performed in the workplace by their employers?

As stated by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in the case of Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario v. York Region District School Board, 2022 ONCA 476, “There is no doubt that they are.”

Saturday 23 April 2022

Court of Appeal Recognizes that Employees Terminated “For Cause” May Still Be Entitled to Statutory Termination Benefits

The law concerning the rights and responsibilities of Ontario’s employers to dismiss an employee “for cause” , and the rights of employee to nonetheless receive statutory termination pay and severance pay in event of a termination “for cause” finally received such much-needed clarity in the Court of Appeal of Ontario’s decision in Render v. ThyssenKrupp Elevator (Canada) Limited, 2022 ONCA 310 (CanLII).

While both the facts of the case and the depth of the Court of Appeal’s analysis on the critical point have caused some commenters to challenge the correctness of the court’s ultimate decision, I could not be more ecstatic about the methodology of the court’s approach.

Sunday 6 March 2022

How Much Time Do You Have to Sue for Unpaid Overtime?

The question of how much time one has within which to start a civil claim for unpaid wages, including unpaid overtime is actually more complicated than it sounds.

In Fresco v. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, 2022 ONCA 115 (CanLII), the Court of Appeal for Ontario refused to allow an employer’s appeal in a proposed class action case on the basis that the applicable limitation period had expired.

The basis for the court’s decision was the application of the “reliance on superior knowledge and expertise” doctrine to the question of when an employee ought to reasonably have known that, having regard to the nature of the injury, loss or damage, a proceeding would be an appropriate means to seek to remedy it.

Allow me to explain.