Articles 2024

Aujourdʼhui
Aujourdʼhui
Which Clock to Watch: Limitation Periods for Anticipatory Breaches of Contracts

Which Clock to Watch: Limitation Periods for Anticipatory Breaches of Contracts

  • 12 mai 2014
  • Adrian Ishak

The Ontario Court of Appeal clarifies when time begins to run for an anticipatory breach of contract. In situations where a party clearly refuses the other’s expressed anticipated breach and instead presses for the specific performance of the agreement, the limitation clock starts to run from the time of the actual failure to perform and not from the notice of breach.

Droit du travail et de l’emploi

Offensive Facebook Post Results in Just Cause Termination of Employee

  • 15 avril 2014
  • Danielle T. Gauer

The growth of social media has resulted in individuals having ready access to a variety of online forums where they can express their views and opinions. The recent Newfoundland arbitration decision, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Local 64 v. Corner Brook Pulp and Paper Limited, makes it clear that using Facebook to post offensive and/or harassing comments about one’s employer can have serious consequences for an employee.

Droit du travail et de l’emploi

You Can Run But You Can’t Hide

  • 11 mars 2014
  • John Stout

The recent SCC decision in Bernard involves a situation where a trade union sought home contact information for bargaining unit members from an employer. The PSLRB ordered the employer to provide the home contact information of bargaining unit members to the union because the information was necessary for the union to carry out its representational duties. The union was also ordered to keep the information secure and only use the information for representational purposes.

Droit du travail et de l’emploi
Workplace Harassment Complaints Found to Engage Anti-Reprisal Provisions under OHSA

Workplace Harassment Complaints Found to Engage Anti-Reprisal Provisions under OHSA

  • 11 mars 2014
  • Carla Nassar

In a recent decision, the Ontario Labour Relations Board appears to have changed its previous approach to allegations that a worker has been terminated for making a complaint of workplace harassment. While the Board had previously found that it likely did not have the authority to deal with such complaints, the Board now appears to accept that this type of allegation engages the anti-reprisal provisions of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Droit du travail et de l’emploi

Supreme Court of Canada Endorses Broader Availability of Summary Judgment: Impact on Wrongful Dismissal Litigation

  • 11 mars 2014
  • Lisa Talbot, Tom Stevenson and Sarah Walker

The Supreme Court of Canada has expanded the ability of Ontario litigants to obtain a final judgment without the need for a full trial. On January 23, 2014, the Court released its’ decisions in Hryniak v. Mauldin and Bruno Appliance and Furniture Inc. v. Hyrniak, unanimously endorsing an expanded use of summary judgment under Rule 20 of Ontario’s Rules of Civil Procedure.

Droit du travail et de l’emploi

Bill 146: Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, 2013

  • 11 mars 2014
  • Madeleine Loewenberg and Naomi Shawn

The Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, 2013 (Bill 146) was introduced in Parliament on December 4, 2013. If enacted, Bill 146 will have significant implications for Ontario employers as a direct result of amendments that it will make to Ontario employment legislation.

Droit du travail et de l’emploi
SCC Holds Pension Benefits Not Deductible from Wrongful Dismissal Damages

SCC Holds Pension Benefits Not Deductible from Wrongful Dismissal Damages

  • 11 mars 2014
  • Clio Godkewitsch

The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed that monthly pension benefits received during a period of reasonable notice are not deductible from damages for wrongful dismissal in Waterman v. IBM. The Court held that the compensation principle should not be strictly applied, and emphasized the underlying nature of pensions, which are not intended to be an indemnity for loss of income on dismissal.

Droit du travail et de l’emploi