Resources: Employment
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B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal Confirms After-Acquired Cause May Justify Termination Without Notice or Pay in Lieu Under the Employment Standards Act
March 2018
In Re Black Press Group Ltd., BC EST No. RD074/17, the B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal confirmed that evidence of after-acquired cause (i.e. evidence of pre-dismissal misconduct discovered after dismissal) can be admitted to prove just cause under the Employment Standards Act (the “ESA”) and eliminate the employer’s obligation to provide termination notice or pay in lieu under the ESA.
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B.C. Employment Standards Tribunal Confirms After-Acquired Cause May Justify Termination Without Notice or Pay in Lieu Under the Employment Standards Act -
When Workplace Arguments Heat Up: The Unintentional Dismissal
March 2018
The importance of maintaining composure in the heat of the moment, even in the face of insubordination or other defiant employee behaviour, is highlighted in Sweeting v. Mok, 2017 ONCA 203.
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When Workplace Arguments Heat Up: The Unintentional Dismissal -
Law Professor’s Human Rights Complaint Against University of British Columbia Dismissed
February 2018
More than a year after the merits of Ms. McCue’s complaint were heard, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) has dismissed this case in its entirety. The 300+ page decision contains important discussion about various topics including the Tribunal’s jurisdiction, prima facie discrimination, workplace accommodation, cultural obligations, complainant obligations, and the duty to inquire.
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Law Professor’s Human Rights Complaint Against University of British Columbia Dismissed -
Careful About Aiming Too High And Asking For Too Much
February 2018
After reorganizing a business, employers must take care that the terms of settlement and new employment they offer to their employees do not provide a basis for a dismissed employee to reasonably refuse to take the position in order to mitigate damages for wrongful dismissal.
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Careful About Aiming Too High And Asking For Too Much -
Are Your Bullying and Harassment Policies and Procedures in Good Shape?
February 2018
It seems like every day a new story surfaces about allegations of sexual harassment against Hollywood elites and other celebrities. Each time, the online world erupts and anyone with a computer can have their say. Reputations can be destroyed in hours.
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Are Your Bullying and Harassment Policies and Procedures in Good Shape? -
Settling Human Rights Complaints – What Not To Do
January 2018
When an employee makes a human rights complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, the employee and the employer are permitted and even encouraged to settle such complaints. In some cases, complainants may agree to a settlement and then pursue the complaint anyway. In these circumstances, the Tribunal retains jurisdiction to hear the complaint if it determines that it would further the purposes of the B.C. Human Rights Code to do so. Such was the case in The Employee v. The Company and the Owner, 2017 BCHRT 266.
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Settling Human Rights Complaints – What Not To Do -
The Scope of Human Rights in the Modern Workplace
December 2017
At a time when the #metoo movement continues to galvanize, the Supreme Court of Canada has issued a landmark decision in British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal v. Schrenk, 2017 SCC 62 that expands protection from discrimination in the workplace so that it now can potentially include within its scope harassment perpetrated by co-workers, even if they have different employers.
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The Scope of Human Rights in the Modern Workplace -
Human Rights Tribunal Confirms Employers Continue to Drive the Bus
December 2017
In Adair v. Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission (No. 2), 2017 BCHRT 147, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal revisited what accommodation looks like in the employment context. The key reminder for employers and counsel is that the proposed accommodation need not be perfect – when there is more than one reasonable option for accommodation, “the employer is entitled to choose among them”.
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Human Rights Tribunal Confirms Employers Continue to Drive the Bus -
The Zellstoff Trilogy- Privacy v. Technology
December 2017
In the age of technology and data collection, there is, or can be, a digital footprint and record of virtually all employee activity.
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The Zellstoff Trilogy- Privacy v. Technology -
Executive’s Self-Dealing Can Lead to Rescission of Employment Agreement
November 2017
The focus of this article is a case arising out of Ontario: UPM-Kymmene Corp. v. UPM-Kymmene Miramichi Inc., [2002] O.J. No. 2412 (S.C.J.), affirmed [2004] O.J. No. 636 (C.A.).
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Executive’s Self-Dealing Can Lead to Rescission of Employment Agreement