Resources
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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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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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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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Which Absences Properly “Count” for Attendance Management
December 2017
The Federal Court of Appeal recently overturned a decision of the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board (the “Board”) concerning the National Attendance Management Policy (NAMP) promulgated by Correctional Service Canada (CSC) for its unionized employees: Bodnar v. Treasury Board (Correctional Service of Canada), 2017 FCA 171.
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Boilerplate Non-Competition Clauses Are No Protection At All
November 2017
The B.C. Court of Appeal recently clarified the analytical framework regarding the enforceability of non-competition clauses in the employment context. In IRIS The Visual Group Western Canada Inc. v. Park, 2017 BCCA 301, the Court questioned the use of boilerplate language and reminded employers that restrictive covenants must be drafted with care.
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When Human Rights Collide . . . Take Reasonable and Practical Steps to Minimize the Harm
October 2017
From time to time, employers will find themselves faced with circumstances where taking steps to avoid discriminating against a customer or client under the Human Rights Code will have the unintended result of the employer discriminating against its employees. That is the situation Victoria Taxi faced in the B.C. Court of Appeal’s recent decision, McCreath v. Victoria Taxi (1987) Ltd.
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A Crack in the Dam? Merrifield v. Attorney General (Ont.) and the Undead Tort of Harassment
October 2017
For many years, workplace law has generally proceeded on the assumption that remedies for harassing behaviour and civil “harassment” were, except in rare cases, outside the purview of the courts. Harassment, as a civil wrong, had developed within the administrative structure of human rights tribunals and grievance processes under collective agreements but there was no generally recognized common law “tort” of harassment.
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