In Timmins v. Artisan Cells, 2025 CanLII 2387, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice found, in an undefended claim, that the employers “by their correspondence and actions” repudiated the employee’s employment agreement when...more
2/21/2025
/ Breach of Contract ,
Canada ,
Contract Terms ,
Damages ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Notice Requirements ,
Ontario ,
Severance Agreements ,
Severance Pay ,
Termination
In Boyer v. Callidus Capital Corporation, 2025 ONCA 79, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) dismissed the employer’s appeal of the motion judge’s order in Boyer v. Callidus, 2024 ONSC 20, discussed in detail here. The...more
In Horne v. Public Service Alliance of Canada, 2024 HR 1788, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) dismissed an application alleging that a job posting stating the successful candidate would be a “qualified woman”...more
Wilds v. 1959612 Ontario Inc., 2024 ONSC 3452, involves a wrongful dismissal action in which the employee brought a motion for summary judgment. The court found the termination provisions in her employment agreement were...more
12/4/2024
/ Canada ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Punitive Damages ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms ,
Wrongful Termination
In Bertsch v. Datastealth Inc., 2024 ONSC 5593, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed an employee’s claim for common law reasonable notice of termination on a Rule 21 motion....more
The Court of Appeal for Ontario found that settlement documents signed after an employee separated from employment prevented him from suing for the value of vested stock options....more
11/12/2024
/ Canada ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Former Employee ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Ontario ,
Settlement ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Termination ,
Wrongful Termination
Marshall v. Mercantile Exchange Corporation, 2024 CanLII 71128 (ONSC), is an action for wrongful dismissal where the employee claimed he could not mitigate his damages by seeking alternative employment indefinitely because...more
In De Castro v. Arista Homes Limited, 2024 ONSC 1035, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice (Court) held the termination provision in an employment contract was unenforceable because it defined “cause” more broadly than does...more
10/16/2024
/ Canada ,
Contract Terms ,
Damages ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Termination Clauses ,
Wrongful Termination
In Zanette v. Ottawa Chamber Music Society, 2024 HRTO 998, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) dismissed a volunteer’s application alleging discrimination with respect to employment because of sexual orientation,...more
10/10/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Canada ,
Dress Codes ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Identity ,
Human Rights Code ,
International Labor Laws ,
LGBTQ ,
Ontario ,
Volunteers
In R. v. Greater Sudbury (City), 2024 ONSC 3959, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (OSCJ) dismissed an appeal of the trial judge’s decision in which she acquitted the City of Sudbury (City) of various charges under...more
9/18/2024
/ Canada ,
Construction Project ,
Due Diligence ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Health and Safety ,
International Labor Laws ,
OHSA ,
Ontario ,
Popular ,
Workplace Safety
In Croke v. VuPoint System Ltd., 2024 ONCA 354, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) upheld the Superior Court of Justice – Ontario (SCJ)’s summary judgment decision that an employee’s refusal to comply with their employer’s...more
8/20/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Frustration of a Common Purpose ,
Health and Safety ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Termination
The Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) recently held that an employee may be awarded aggravated damages for an employer’s bad-faith conduct during the employee’s dismissal even in the absence of medical evidence identifying a...more
8/13/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Aggravated Damages ,
Bad Faith ,
Canada ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Medical Evaluation Reports ,
Medical Leave ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Wrongful Termination
In Egan v. Harbour Air Seaplanes LLP, 2024 BCCA 222, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) upheld a lower court’s decision that a termination clause in an employment agreement was enforceable because it was neither...more
In Teamsters Local Union 987 of Alberta v Purolator Inc., 2024 CanLII 21937 (CA LA), an arbitrator dealt with a clash between the amount of leave days under a unionized employer’s collective agreements (CA) and the leave...more
4/16/2024
/ Arbitration ,
Canada ,
Collective Agreements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Employment Litigation ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labour Code ,
Leave of Absence ,
Teamsters ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
In Nelson v. Goodberry Restaurant Group Ltd. dba Buono Osteria and others, 2021 BCHRT 137, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal found that a restaurant and its managers that refused to use a server’s pronouns, among...more
3/21/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Canada ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender Expression ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
LGBTQ ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Transgender
In Boyer v. Callidus, 2024 ONSC 20, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice found that an employee was entitled to $1.8 million in damages for unpaid vacation, bonuses, and stock options, because the terms of the relevant...more
In Aldergrove Duty Free Shop Ltd. v. MacCallum, 2024 BCCA 28, the Court of Appeal for British Columbia (BCCA) dismissed an employer’s appeal when it agreed with the lower court that the employer could not use the frustration...more
3/20/2024
/ Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Damages ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Frustration of a Common Purpose ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Layoffs ,
Wrongful Termination
In Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held that the termination provisions of a fixed-term employment contract were illegal and unenforceable because...more
3/12/2024
/ Canada ,
Contract Terms ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Fixed-Term Labor Contracts ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Unenforceable Contract Terms
In Gannon v. Kinsdale Carriers, 2024 ONSC 1060, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice denied common law reasonable notice to an employee who was wrongfully dismissed from her employment on the basis that she failed to...more
In United Steelworkers Local 14193 v. Cameco Fuel Manufacturing Inc., 2023 CanLII 115899 (ON LA), an arbitrator dismissed a union’s policy grievance on the grounds that, contrary to the union’s assertion, the employer could...more
In 2023, Canada saw significant statutory and case law developments in labour and employment law. This Insight provides an overview of notable 2023 developments, with links to more detailed articles and commentary....more
In Shalagin v. Mercer Celgar Limited Partnership, 2023 BCCA 373, the British Columbia Court of Appeal (BCCA) upheld the lower court’s dismissal of an employee’s wrongful dismissal claim and its finding that his surreptitious...more
In Van Hee v Glenmore Inn Holdings Ltd., 2023 ABCJ 244 (Glenmore), the Alberta Court of Justice found that an employer’s mandatory vaccination policy was a reasonable, justified and lawful response to the extraordinary...more
12/18/2023
/ Canada ,
Constructive Discharge ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In Ottawa Police Services Bd. v. Ottawa Police Assn., 2023 ONSC 6225, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice (Divisional Court) (Ont. SCJ (Div. Ct.)) quashed an arbitrator’s decision allowing two grievances that claimed...more
12/14/2023
/ Canada ,
Collective Agreements ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Holiday Pay ,
Holidays ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Relations ,
Ontario ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The Supreme Court of Canada’s (SCC) decision in R. v. Greater Sudbury (City), 2023 SCC 28 was equally divided (4-4). In the absence of a majority SCC decision, the City's appeal was dismissed, and the decision of the Court...more