By: Daniel Mayer and Christopher Pigott Last Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada in Alberta (Information and Privacy Commissioner) v. United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401, 2013 SCC 62 unanimously held that Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”) unduly restricted a union’s right to freedom of expression during the course of a lawful strike,…
By: Cheryl Edwards and Daniel Mayer For readers following the progress of ever-expanding OHS statutory obligations relating to violence and harassment, there is a new development worth note in B.C. Most Canadian jurisdictions have now defined workplace violence as a hazard and set out obligations such as requirements for policies, risk assessments, training and other…
Terminating a unionized employee for substance abuse in the workplace is tricky, considering the duty to accommodate and the traditional mitigating factors arbitrators will consider when determining whether termination is an appropriate response (length of employment, discipline record, remorse, etc). A recent arbitration decision might bring some comfort to employers. In Vale (Manitoba Operations) v….
On the heels of June’s Irving Pulp and Paper decision from the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC), which severely limited the circumstances when random drug and alcohol testing is permissible in the workplace, an Ontario arbitrator recently held that mandatory pre-access alcohol and drug testing was an unreasonable exercise of management rights, violated the privacy…
By: Jeremy Warning and Daniel Mayer Today, the Court of Appeal for Ontario fined Metron Construction Corporation $750,000 for the Criminal Code offence of criminal negligence causing death. The penalty was issued as part of a detailed decision allowing a Crown appeal of the fine of $200,000 originally imposed on Metron following its July 13, 2012,…