Our client underwent brain surgery to remove a tumor and required the use of her employer’s group plan long-term disability insurance benefits to recover. After a failed attempt to return to work, the insurer denied her claim for long-term disability benefits. Our client retained us to commence a law suit against her insurer for negligence […]
The Law Society of Upper Canada, the regulator of Ontario’s legal profession, asked our firm to provide a legal opinion on the Law Society’s obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code regarding its decision whether to accredit Trinity Western University’s proposed Law School. The proposal is controversial due to TWU’s requirement that students, faculty and […]
With the start of the 2014-2015 school year, Ryerson University launched its much-anticipated Law Practice Program (LPP). The LPP began when the Law Society of Upper Canada approved the Pathways Pilot Project in November 2012 to allow candidates for lawyer licensing to obtain necessary professional experience by means other than the traditional 10-month articling term. […]
This paper will provide an overview of the common features of Long Term Disability (“LTD”) insurance contracts, and will provide a primer on the remedies and damages available in LTD litigation. Finally, we will offer practical tips on managing LTD litigation.
The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Khosa represents its first significant guidance with regard to the implementation of the standard of review analysis post-Dunsmuir (Dunsmuir v. New Brunswick, [2008] 1 S.C.R. 190, 2008 SCC 9). This decision provides some insight into how the standard of review analysis should be conducted after elimination of the most […]
When an employer has grounds to believe that one or more of its employees are engaged in activity that is contrary to the company policy and/or contrary to law, there are a number of important issues to consider when deciding how to proceed. These issues can be broken down into a series of questions. The […]
As a result of Bill 168, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, (the “OHSA” or “Act”) now imposes obligations on employers to maintain policies and programs with respect to preventing both workplace violence and harassment. While the requirement to maintain such policies and programs is well established, what is less certain is what remedies will be […]
In 2008, legislative amendments to the Ontario Human Rights Code (“Code”) removed the right of parties to appeal decisions of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO” or “Tribunal”) to the courts. With the removal of appeal rights, decisions of the HRTO can now only be revisited by way of a judicial review before the […]
Our client was a top employee with a large company. While she was on maternity leave, her employer sent her a notice of termination claiming that she was part of a mass lay-off. We were able to show that our client was not part of the mass lay-off, and that another person had in fact […]
The Ontario Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 (“Code”) underwent a major overhaul with the full coming into force of the Human Rights Amendment Act, S.O. 2006, c. 30, on June 30, 2008. Among other changes, these significant reforms have created a new human rights process which permits Applicants (formerly known as “Complainants”) to […]
