Sunday 26 March 2023

Labour Board Refuses to Appoint Alternate Workplace Harassment Investigator

Can a worker complaining of workplace harassment who pre-emptively refuses to participate in the resulting investigation because she believes the investigator is unsuitable, ask the Ontario Labour Relations Board to appoint an investigator of the Board’s choosing instead?

In Erin MacKenzie v Orkestra SCS Inc., 2023 CanLII 13891 (ON LRB), the OLRB refused to appoint its own investigator.

Sunday 12 March 2023

Employee Ordered to Repay Employer for “Time Theft”

Can an employee be made to repay her employer for hours for which she was paid but did no actual work?

In Besse v. Reach CPA Inc, 2023 BCCRT 27 (CanLII), the British Columbia Civil Resolution Tribunal said yes.

Saturday 11 March 2023

Employee’s Surreptitious Recording of Termination Meeting Leads to Award of Aggravated Damages

“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Almost everyone has heard the “Miranda” warning.

While those rights come out of the United States and are mostly intended to apply in the criminal context, as the case of Teljeur v. Aurora Hotel Group, 2023 ONSC 1324 (CanLII) demonstrates, such warning can also be sage in the employment law context.

Sunday 5 March 2023

“Changed Substratum” Doctrine voids Executive’s Contractual Entitlement to One Year’s Severance: ONCA

Can substantial increases to one’s job responsibilities void what would otherwise be a binding termination provision in an employment contract?

In Celestini v. Shoplogix Inc., 2023 ONCA 131, the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld the use of the “changed substratum” doctrine to void an otherwise legal, and some might even argue generous, contractual termination provision.

Saturday 25 February 2023

Just Cause Not Yet a Lost Cause. Deliberate Destruction of Company Property Proper Basis for Summary Dismissal: ONSC

Is the intentional destruction of company property cause for termination of employment without notice? Does it meet the higher burden of statutory “wilful misconduct”?

In Park v. Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd., 2023 ONSC 1013 (CanLII), a decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sitting at Ottawa, the Honourable Madam Justice Robyn M. Ryan Bell held that summary dismissal was warranted.