In November 2012, labour arbitrator William Kaplan decided the grievance case of Agropur Division Natrel v. Teamsters Local 647 (Grievance of JF), 2012 CanLII 69477, regarding the termination of a disabled employee requesting reinstatement. The grievor, JF, was a 10-year employee of Agropur Division Natrel, a leading Canadian dairy products producer. JF worked as a […]
Luciano Branco is a Portuguese Canadian welder who was working with a Saskatchewan company overseas in Kyrgyzstan, when he was severely and permanently injured on the job in 1999 after a steel plate fell on his foot. Mr. Branco had workers compensation benefits and group long term disability insurance coverage through his employment, which were […]
In a recent decision released in March 2013, former university professor Denis Rancourt who is a defendant in a defamation claim by University of Ottawa Law professor Joanne St. Lewis, was ordered by the Court to disclose his Facebook “friends” and Twitters “followers” lists to the Plaintiff St. Lewis. Professor St. Lewis is a law […]
Potential Repercussions for Labour Relations In an important decision, the Court of Appeal for Ontario has ruled that the source of funding for a party’s legal representation is presumptively subject to solicitor-client privilege. In the case, Kaiser (Re), 2012 ONCA 838, Mr. Morris Kaiser was a bankrupt who was resisting efforts by his Trustee in […]
In the recent decision, Power Tax Corporation v. Millar et al. (2013), 113 O.R. (3d) 502, 2013 ONSC 135, the Honourable Mr. Justice Goldstein of the Ontario Superior Court considered the doctrine of abuse of process in a case where there were two parallel proceedings addressing the same essential issue. The concept of abuse of […]
In the recent summary judgment motion of Baywood Homes v Alex Haditaghi, 2013 ONSC 2145, Justice Belobaba, for the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto, took the opportunity to opine on the test for summary judgment under Rule 20 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. Summary judgment is available to both plaintiffs and defendants, […]
Incorporating new technologies into the Rules of Civil Procedure can sometimes present challenges for both litigants and courts. In the recent case of Stewart v Kempster, 2012 ONSC 7236, Justice Heeney dismissed a motion by the defendants seeking an order compelling the plaintiff to produce all vacation photos since the date of her car accident […]
Background The legal status of random drug and alcohol testing in Canadian workplaces has been very unclear for some time. It has been accepted that drug and alcohol addiction is a disability within the context of human rights law, and as such, random drug and alcohol testing programs potentially raise discrimination issues because they disproportionately […]
In the June 2013 decision, CEP Local 30 v. Irving Pulp and Paper, the majority of the Supreme Court of Canada, in an opinion authored by Abella J., allowed the appeal from the New Brunswick Court of Appeal’s decision, but did so in a way that may limit the application of this decision to unionized […]
In the recent case, Fair v. Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board, 2013 HRTO 440, the Human Rights Tribunal reinstated the Applicant, Ms. Fair, into a position with the Respondent school board, more than eight years after she was dismissed. This case involved an allegation of discrimination in employment on the basis of disability and a failure […]
