References present a double-edged sword for employers. On one hand, employers typically want former employees to find new jobs as doing so will get them off the company’s severance payroll. On the other hand, providing references may expose employers to dual-pronged liability in negligence and/or defamation. Given the recent news that Canada lost nearly 46,000…
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…
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…
A recent case out of Quebec discusses the level of procedural fairness that may be owed during a workplace investigation for a public institution. In Ditomene c. Boulanger, two employees at a CEGEP (a public school) filed a complaint of psychological harassment under Quebec law against their superior, Mr. Ditomene. The CEGEP retained Ms. Boulanger…
In the course of our workplace investigation practice we often encounter employees who insist on some form of representation. However whether represented by a lawyer, union official, or even family member, there is a risk that the representative will end up doing more harm than good. After all, the point of an investigation is to…