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,…
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…
In Peel Law Association v. Pieters, the Ontario Court of Appeal affirmed that the test for finding prima facie discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code does not require that the discrimination was intentional. The Court set aside a decision of the Divisional Court and reinstated a decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, which…
As our regular readers know, the Ministry of Labour is currently drafting a new regulation that will require mandatory occupational health and safety awareness training for all workers and supervisors in Ontario. This arises from a strong recommendation made by the Dean Panel that all workers and supervisors receive prescribed minimum information on their duties…