In Karim v. Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, 2024 HRTO 1231, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) dismissed a probationary employee’s claim that they were discriminated against with respect to employment because...more
2/26/2025
/ Canada ,
Disability Discrimination ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Human Rights ,
Ontario ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Termination
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
The 2025 Ontario provincial election will take place on February 27, 2025. Voters will elect their Member of Provincial Parliament to represent them at Queen’s Park.
In most of the province, polls are open on election day...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
Applying prior precedent, the Court of Appeal for Ontario (OCA) in Dufault v. Ignace (Township), 2024 ONCA 915, upheld the Ontario Superior Court of Justice’s (OSCJ) finding that the “for cause” termination provision in an...more
On November 27, 2024, Ontario introduced Bill 229 - Working for Workers Six Act, 2024 (Bill 229) for First Reading. If enacted, the statutes amended would include the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), the Occupational...more
Ontario’s Bill 79, Working for Workers Act, 2023 (“Bill 79”), amended several statutes, including the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). One of the amendments Bill 79 made to the ESA authorized the government to make...more
Ontario’s Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2024 and Bill 190, Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 both amended the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) by, among other things, setting out requirements and prohibitions...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 Yu v. Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, 2024 HRTO 1401, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) dismissed an application alleging the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) discriminated against the worker by...more
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
On October 28, 2024, Ontario’s Bill 190, Working for Workers Five Act, 2024 (Bill 190), received Royal Assent. Among other things, Bill 190 amends the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), Occupational Health and Safety...more
10/31/2024
/ Canada ,
Employee Rights ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Harassment ,
OHSA ,
Ontario ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Sick Leave ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance ,
Workplace Safety
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
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
On February 12, 2024, in Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2024 ONCA 101, the majority of the Ontario Court of Appeal (OCA) upheld, in part, the decision of the Ontario Superior...more
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
The Ontario Human Rights Commission recently published a policy statement (Policy) pertaining to “caste-based discrimination” under Ontario’s Human Rights Code (Code). The Policy advises organizations that they have a legal...more
1/30/2024
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Canada ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Human Rights ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
National Origin Discrimination ,
Ontario ,
Policy Statement ,
Race Discrimination
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
On November 14, 2023, Ontario introduced Bill 149, Working for Workers Four Act, 2023 (Bill 149), for First Reading. If passed, Bill 149 would, among other things, amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA), the Workplace...more