Falsification of Expenses and Just Cause

28. February 2024 0
Just cause dismissals are viewed as the capital punishment of the employment law world and for that reason, employers have a high bar to reach before a judge will find that they have just cause to dismiss an employee.  Dishonesty is one basis that has been found to constitute just cause, although the courts have ...

Changes to the Canada Labour Code

01. February 2024 0
Federally regulated employees will be entitled to enhanced termination notices with the coming into force of the amendments to the Canada Labour Code on February 1, 2024.  Employers are now required to provide employees in situations of individual terminations with a graduated termination noticed based on the length of the service, which is very similar ...

New Obligations under the Workers Compensation Act

04. January 2024 0
January 1, 2024 brought changes to the Workers Compensation Act (the “Act”) including a duty to cooperate and a duty to maintain employment.  These changes impose new return to work requirements on both employers and employees following an injury with the aim to better support workers to return to the job or other suitable employment ...

Harassment recognized as a tort in Alberta

03. October 2023 0
Alberta is the first Canadian jurisdiction to recognize the tort of harassment, while Ontario and British Columbia have declined to recognize the same tort.  In the recent decision Alberta Health Services v. Johnston two issues were considered.  First the issue of whether unelected public bodies could bring suits in defamation and secondly whether to recognize ...

The History of BC’s New Statutory Holiday

September 30 is the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.  The origin of this day of recognition began with Orange Shirt Day, which is a legacy of the St. Joseph Mission Residential School Commemoration Project and Reunion events that took place in Williams Lake in May 2013.  The Reunion brought together former students and their ...

Punitive damages – when are they appropriate?

17. January 2023 0
Following up on my last blog post regarding Chu v. China Southern Airlines and an award of $100,000 in punitive damages against an employer for their conduct during the course of litigation, reasons for judgment in Fanzone v. 516400 B.C. Ltd. 2022 BCSC 2089 have been released.  The decision in Fanzone cautions that the employer’s ...

Award of Enhanced Damages

13. January 2023 0
The year has kicked off with an award of significant enhanced damages in a wrongful dismissal claim.  While it is not uncommon for dismissed employees to seek aggravated and punitive damages following their termination, these are damages that are not commonly awarded and when they are, they tend to be in modest amounts.  That trend ...

Mandatory vaccination policy found to be reasonable

In a March 17 arbitration award, yet another Ontario arbitrator found a mandatory vaccination policy to be reasonable. In Unifor Local 973 and Coca-Cola Canada Bolling Limited the arbitrator reviewed the significant impact that COVID-19 had had on the workplace including the death of two employees and 13% of employees testing positive for COVID-19 in ...