16
Jan
Intentional Under-Employment – Judges Tell Payors “Get a Real Job!”
When will Ontario's courts impute income to a parent for the purpose of calculating his or her child support obligations?...
Uncategorized
15
Jan
Punitive Damages in Ontario Employment Law – Pate Estate v. Galway-Cavendish and Harvey (Township)
In Whitten v. Pilot Insurance, the Supreme Court of Canada articulated the purpose, appropriateness and range of punitive damage awards in Canada. An award for punitive damages is only appropriate if conduct is “high-handed, malicious, arbitrary or highly reprehensible ...
08
Jan
Supreme Court of Canada Rules on Pension Income and Damages in Wrongful Dismissal
The Supreme Court of Canada's recent ruling in IBM Canada Ltd. v. Waterman provides a great deal of clarity on the issue of collateral benefits such as pensions in a wrongful dismissal action and whether such a benefit ought to be deducted from the amount...
27
Jun
Inducement in the Age of Social Networking
With the advent of social networking, traditional means of recruiting and hiring have vastly changed. Today, websites such as LinkedIn provide employers and employees an opportunity to publish their professional profiles online (a curriculum vitae or a company profile) and connect with like-minded individuals...
18
Oct
Ontario Employment Law: Employer’s Reliance on Termination Provisions Limiting Notice In Summary Judgment Motions
n McKinstry v. Stone, decided September 20, 2011, Pollak J. considered the burden of proof upon an employer seeking summary dismissal of an employee's wrongful dismissal claim, where the employer is seeking to rely on a termination provision in an employee's contract of employment...
18
Oct
Ontario Employment Law: Punitive Damages In Wrongful Dismissal Suits
In Pate Estate v. Galway-Cavendish and Harvey (Townships), decided in November 2011 after 10 years of protracted litigation, a wrongfully dismissed building inspector's estate was awarded a whopping $550,000.00 in punitive damages against the municipality that had employed him. Pate had served as the Chief Building Official for the Township of Galway...
31
Aug
Ontario Employment Law: Mitigating Damages By Staying With The Same Employer
Must an employee whose job is being eliminated by its employer accept the same kind of position at a related company with the same pay in mitigation of his losses arising from a wrongful termination?...
30
Jul
Workers’ Compensation Benefits Curtailed for Injured Antiques Aficionado
An October, 2011, decision by the Nova Scotia Workers’ Compensation Appeals Tribunal should signal to those of us who not only collect, but also repair, show or deal in antiques, that our hobby activities may be scrutinized by adjudicators determining entitlement to benefits arising out...
13
Nov
Ontario Employment Law: Wrongful Dismissal and Retirement Benefits
In Reinzo v. Washington Mills Electro Minerals Corporations, the Court of Appeal for Ontario answers an important question as concerns an employee's entitlement to benefits during the notice period in a wrongful dismissal action: Do they include employer contributions to the Canada Pension Plan and...
05
Apr
Ontario Employment Law: Can A Wrongfully Dismissed Employee Plead Systemic Misbehaviour By The Employer?
The blog post affirms that in Ontario wrongful dismissal cases, employees aren’t restricted to describing only their own experiences; they can also allege patterns or policies of systemic wrongdoing, and such broader allegations may properly support claims for punitive or moral damages—so long as the...
22
Mar
Ontario Employment Law: Just Cause For Dismissal Doesn’t Necessarily Amount to Wilful Misconduct
A finding of just cause for dismissal at common law does not automatically disqualify an employee from entitlement to statutory severance and termination benefits under Ontario's Employment Standards Act, according to an important March 14, 2011 ruling of the Ontario Superior Court Ontario in Oosterbosch...
22
Mar
Ontario Employment Law: Entitlement To Benefits During the Period of Reasonable Notice
A June 2010 ruling of the Ontario Superior Court in Simpkin v. Ability Machine and Manufacturing Inc. demonstrates that in wrongful dismissal cases, quantification of damages is not confined to wages that would have been earned during the notice period, but will also include the replacement cost of...
20
Dec
Ontario Employment Law: Aggravated Damages in Wrongful Dismissal Cases
Aggravated damages may be awarded in wrongful dismissal actions on rare occasions to compensate an employee whose damages have been worsened or exacerbated by the employer's misconduct or bad faith upon termination....
13
Dec
Ontario Employment Law: “Discrimination” Under The Ontario Human Rights Code
In a very recent case, Syed v. Khetia Pharmacy Inc., the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal decisively rejected an applicant’s claim that he had been discriminated against by his employer on the basis of four grounds, namely ancestry, ethnic origin, place of origin and disability. While the Applicant was...
01
Dec
Ontario Employment Law: Maximum Recovery of $10,000.00 under Ontario Employment Standards Act
The Ontario Employment Standards Act (ESA) provides many benefits to the Province's employees. It also lays a few traps for those who do not fully consider the Act's complexities and limits....
19
Nov
Ontario Employment Law: Restrictive Covenants 101
Employers often wish to protect their commercial and business interests by contractually limiting the ability of departing employees to use confidential information, compete with the employer, and solicit the employer's customers and staff in the period subsequent to employment....
15
Nov
Facebook, Background Checks and Job Applications
Here is yet another sign of our digital times - the Facebook password request ancillary to a job application. Recruits in more than a third of 728 police agencies surveyed are now required to provide access to their social media accounts to enable background checks in the employment...
10
Nov
Ontario Employment Law: Temporary Layoffs – Common Law and the Employment Standards Act
One important area where the Ontario Employment Standards (ESA) and the common law appear to be wholly at odds relates to the consequences of temporary layoffs. The ESA provides that under certain circumstances, an employer may temporarily lay off an employee, and even though no work is provided...
10
Nov
Can You Facebook If You Want To?
The post discusses evolving attitudes toward social media use in the workplace, highlighting two key developments: U.S. NLRB Ruling on Social Media and Worker Rights The National Labor Relations Board found that an EMS worker had the right to discuss workplace conditions on Facebook—even if that meant...
01
Nov
Ontario Employment Law: Discrimination On The Basis of Disability under the Ontario Human Rights Code
Discover how the Ontario Human Rights Code protects employees from disability discrimination at work, and how employers must accommodate injuries or disabilities unless it causes undue hardship. Includes case insights....
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