Roper Greyell is pleased to welcome Katie Comley to the firm.
Katie practices in all areas of employment and labour law. Prior to joining Roper Greyell, Katie was part of the Labour and Employment group at a national firm, and most recently practised with a boutique workplace law and commercial litigation firm in Vancouver
Learn more about Katie here.
Roper Greyell LLP is pleased to announce Adam Garvin, CPA, CMA, has joined the firm as Chief Operating Officer, effective September 12, 2022. With almost 20 years of experience in investments, operations, and finance, Adam’s diverse background spans the areas of strategic financial planning and implementation, team leadership, and change management.
Learn more about Adam here.
Roper Greyell is pleased to welcome Chira Perla to the firm as Director of Professional Development.
Chira brings experience as a lawyer and a background in student recruitment, adult learning, and legal professional development to her role at Roper Greyell. She practised as a commercial litigator with national firms in Vancouver and New York before moving into higher education program design and leadership positions, including five years as Assistant Dean of Career Services at the Allard School of Law.
Learn more about Chira here.
The Vancouver Pride Festival has historically been one of the largest Pride festivals in Canada. It’s an opportunity for members of the LGBTQ2SAI+ community (along with friends, families and allies), to gather and celebrate at events across the city, culminating in the Pride Parade. However, over the past two years, COVID-19 has meant a significant reduction in Vancouver Pride celebrations and the cancellation of the in-person Pride Parade. This year the Vancouver Pride Festival is back with the theme of “Together Again” signifying the return to in-person events (including the Pride Parade, taking place on July 31st).
Community contribution is one of Roper Greyell’s core values, and we are committed to having a positive impact in our local communities. In the spirit of this commitment and to celebrate this year’s Vancouver Pride, Roper Greyell has made a $5,000 donation to QMUNITY.
QMUNITY is a non-profit organization, based in Vancouver, “that works to improve queer, trans, and Two-Spirit lives. (They) provide a safer space for LGBTQ2SAI+ people and their allies to fully self-express while feeling welcome and included.” Our donation will go towards QMUNITY initiatives such as employment support services, counselling and peer support programs for members of the LGBTQ2SAI+ community.
To learn more about the important work of QMUNITY please visit https://www.qmunity.ca/.
On April 6, 2022, Bill 10 – 2022 Labour Relations Code Amendment Act, 2022 (“Bill 10”) received first reading. On June 2, 2022 it received Royal Assent and is now in effect. Bill 10 includes two significant amendments to the BC Labour Relations Code (the “Code”). First, the Code will again allow for “card based” certification, the purpose of which is to allow easier access to unionization. Second, in the construction industry, raids will become easier through the elimination of the current three year waiting period.
The amendments are the latest in a series of changes since 2019 that have significantly altered the labour relations landscape in BC.
To read more about these changes and what they mean for employers please see our April 7, 2022 article by Ryan Copeland, Mike Hamata and Andrew Nicholl.
Roper Greyell is pleased to congratulate Teodora Bardas on joining the firm as an associate lawyer, after previously summering and articling with the firm.
Teodora practices in all areas of workplace law with a particular interest in workplace investigations, human rights, and labour disputes. Congratulations Teodora on your call to the bar!
Learn more about Teodora here.
We are pleased to announce that four Roper Greyell lawyers have been recognized as Thought Leaders in labour law and employment law in the 2022 edition of Who’s Who Legal Thought Leaders: Labour & Employment.
The lawyers named in this year’s Who’s Who Legal are:
Thomas A. Roper Q.C.
Delayne Sartison Q.C.
Gregory J. Heywood
James D. Kondopulos
Who’s Who Legal Thought Leaders: Labour & Employment 2022 Guide can be viewed here.
About Who’s Who Legal
Who’s Who Legal has identified the top legal practitioners in multiple areas of business law since 1996. Lawyers are selected based upon comprehensive, independent survey work with both general counsel and private practice lawyers worldwide. Only specialists who have met independent international research criteria are listed.
On March 21, 2022, Arbitrator Somjen upheld a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy in BC Hydro & Power Authority and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 258.
The employer’s vaccination policy was found to be reasonable, except for language contemplating discipline for non-adherence to the policy. The arbitrator held that the express reference to discipline in the policy was excessive but contemplated that a termination could result at some future time.
The arbitrator’s decision is the first in British Columbia to consider a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy that does not provide a testing alternative to vaccination.
Graeme McFarlane, Christopher Munroe, Andrew Nicholl and Gabrielle Berron-Styan from Roper Greyell were counsel for BC Hydro in this matter.
For more information on this decision see: https://ropergreyell.com/covid19-update/mandatory-vaccination-policy-upheld-by-bc-arbitrator/.
We are pleased to announce that nine of the firm’s lawyers have been included in the 2022 Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory.
The lawyers recognized as leading employment, labour, and workplace human rights law practitioners are:
Thomas A. Roper Q.C.
Delayne Sartison Q.C.
Gregory J. Heywood
Sandra Guarascio
Gavin Marshall
Gabrielle Scorer
James D. Kondopulos
Alissa Demerse
Keri L. Bennett
The Directory can be viewed here: https://lexpert.ca/directory/find-lawyers-or-law-firms/
About the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory
Published since 1997, the annual Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory profiles leading practitioners across Canada in over 65 practice areas and leading law firms in 41 practice areas.
Roper Greyell is proud to have been included in Canadian Lawyer magazine’s Top Labour and Employment Boutique law firms in Canada for 2022-23. Our firm was named as one of the Top 5 Labour and Employment Boutiques in Western Canada.
The full list of ranked firms can be found here and includes insights from lawyers from the top firms (including RG’s own Graeme McFarlane) as they highlight some of the most challenging employment and labour law issues their firms are currently facing.
About Canadian Lawyer
Launched in 1977, Canadian Lawyer provides objective reporting and analysis of the legal landscape from coast to coast, and defines “boutique firms” as collections of lawyers specializing in niche areas of the law as opposed to general practice firms that house a variety of practice areas under one roof.
