Resources: Litigation
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Employers Beware: B.C. Court Awards Former Employee $25,000 in Punitive Damages for Conduct in Severance Negotiations
April 7, 2025
The recent decision of the B.C. Supreme Court in Thompson v. Revolution Resource Recovery Inc., 2025 BCSC 8 is notable with respect to three issues: (i) the impact of age on reasonable notice determinations; (ii) the assessment of mitigation in the absence of evidence that new employment could be found if reasonable efforts to mitigate had been made; and (iii) awards of punitive damages when an employer fails to comply with minimum employment standards requirements.
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Employers Beware: B.C. Court Awards Former Employee $25,000 in Punitive Damages for Conduct in Severance Negotiations -
Workplace Psychological Claims – BC Supreme Court Narrows the “Labour Relations Exclusion”
March 19, 2025
On March 6, 2025, the BC Supreme Court released an important and lengthy decision regarding workplace psychological claims. This trial decision addresses the second part of James Pickering’s action for benefits under the Workers Compensation Act, R.S.B.C. 2019, c. 1 [WCA]. The first part of this proceeding, indexed as Pickering v. School District No. 38 (Richmond), 2021 BCSC 1497, was a judicial review of a decision of the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal (“WCAT”).
At trial, Mr. Pickering argued that two provisions of the WCA infringe his rights under s. 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Part I of the Constitution Act, 1982, being Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (U.K.), 1982, c. 11 [Charter]. He said that those provisions, in combination, led to the denial of his mental disorder claim for workers’ compensation. In short, he argued that his claim was denied for reasons that are discriminatory.
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Workplace Psychological Claims – BC Supreme Court Narrows the “Labour Relations Exclusion” -
Employee Barred from Construction Site Deemed Constructively Dismissed
March 18, 2025
A complicated issue arises in employment law when an employer provides services to a customer and one of the employer’s employees is prohibited from working due to the customer’s requirements.
The recent decision of Kurik v. CAS Ventures Ltd., 2024 BCSC 1862 reviews this issue and provides some insight for employers.
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Employee Barred from Construction Site Deemed Constructively Dismissed -
Arbitrators Consider Vaccination Policies
December 7, 2021
In the past few weeks, arbitrators have begun to issue decisions considering the reasonableness of COVID-19 vaccination policies in unionized workplaces. The following three decisions out of Ontario provide some key takeaways for employers.
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Issue Estoppel
May 2, 2022
Employment litigation is rarely straightforward and employers must be prepared to deal with claims in multiple forums, including in civil court and before administrative tribunals responsible for interpreting and applying human rights, workers compensation and privacy law (to name a few).
When faced with a volley of different but related claims, it can be tempting to focus all of your attention on the claim which represents the biggest threat. That would be a mistake — while you should strategically allocate resources, it is crucial to keep all actual or potential claims in mind because decisions in one forum could be relied upon in another.
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Issue Estoppel -
Taking Away Important Responsibilities for Misconduct: Arbitrator Substitutes Permanent Disciplinary Demotion for Discharge
February 18, 2022
When considering potential discipline for poor performance, a novel labour arbitration decision suggests a demotion – a permanent disciplinary demotion – may be an appropriate response.
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Taking Away Important Responsibilities for Misconduct: Arbitrator Substitutes Permanent Disciplinary Demotion for Discharge -
Labour Law in the Time of Cholera
February 7, 2022
2020 was full of surprises, and 2021 continued to bring new challenges for the profession. Our corner of toil in the legal vineyards was not immune. For labour and employment lawyers, 2021 at times felt like a treadmill of legislative change, workplace vaccination policies (do not call it a mandate unless employers are forcibly injecting employees…), and helping employers plan to keep their workplaces safe.
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Labour Law in the Time of Cholera -
Can I Quit and Start Competing: Dispute Born of Competing Fertility Clinics
December 17, 2021
Genesis Fertility Inc. v. Yuzpe 2021 BCCA 420 has it all: intrigue, betrayal and even a “shotgun.” In addition, it has some useful takeaways for employers who are navigating employee relations in times of significant organizational change.
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Can I Quit and Start Competing: Dispute Born of Competing Fertility Clinics -
Arbitrators Consider Vaccination Policies
December 7, 2021
In the past few weeks, arbitrators have begun to issue decisions considering the reasonableness of COVID-19 vaccination policies in unionized workplaces. The following three decisions out of Ontario provide some key takeaways for employers.
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Arbitrators Consider Vaccination Policies -
Challenges With Removing a Matter From Fast Track Litigation
November 29, 2021
A matter may qualify for fast track litigation under Rule 15-1 of the B.C. Supreme Court Civil Rules if the plaintiff is seeking to recover less than $100,000 or the case can be tried within three days. Fast track litigation limits the recovery of legal costs to $11,000, unless the court orders otherwise.
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Challenges With Removing a Matter From Fast Track Litigation