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Suzanne Lopez Allcock | June 06, 2025
Lachapelle v. St. Laurent Automotive Group Inc., 2025 ONSC 1956 appears to have been a fierce battle about a range of legal issues arising from an interesting set of facts. In addition, Justice Roger’s subsequent costs award, Lachapelle v. St. Laurent Automotive Group Inc., 2025 ONSC 2879 (released May 14), provides useful guidance on managing settlement negotiation and pre-trial conduct, particularly in the context of Simplified Procedure and Rule 49 cost consequences.
Learn moreInstead of That… Do This: Practical Mediation Tips for Employment Lawyers
Mitchell Rose & Stuart Rudner | May 19, 2025
Mediation is often the last, best chance to resolve a dispute before significant time and money are lost, and unnecessary risk is incurred. But despite good intentions, we’ve noticed certain lawyer habits that tend to get in the way of productive negotiations. Effective mediation advocacy requires a thoughtful negotiation strategy and careful preparation.
Learn moreTop Ontario Employment Law Decisions of 2024
Compared with the last few years, 2024 was a somewhat uneventful year in employment law. However, we still saw our courts take some surprising stances on important issues, and in at least one case, our Court of Appeal chose not to take a stance at all. The following are the top Ontario employment law decisions of 2024.
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Time’s Up for “At Any Time”: Baker v. Van Dolder’s Home Team Inc.
Tara Seosankar | March 12, 2025
The idea that employers cannot terminate employees "at any time,” without constraint, has been a point of contention in employment law. While Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, was initially viewed by some as an outlier decision, the recent ruling in Baker v. Van Dolder’s Home Team Inc., 2025 ONSC 952, suggests otherwise.
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Tyler Sparrow-Mungal | February 11, 2025
In Khanom v. Idealogic PDS Inc., 2024 ONSC 5131, the Plaintiff, whose job title is undisclosed, requested to work from home during a government-imposed stay-at-home order. The Plaintiff’s duties were primarily computer-based. The Plaintiff's request derived from concerns regarding her diabetic husband’s health, as he was particularly vulnerable to health risks posed by COVID-19. The Defendant refused the request and subsequently terminated the Plaintiff’s employment.
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A Litigator and a Mediator Walk into a Bar...
Stuart Rudner and Alex Minkin | February 11, 2025
For most employment lawyers, mediation will be a far more common experience than trial. For most disputes, mediation is not a step on the road to trial—it is the main event. As a result, it is critical that lawyers prepare properly for mediation and take advantage of the opportunity. Alex, a litigator with Rudner Law, composed some questions that lawyers/litigators would like to hear a mediator (Stuart) answer. Below is our Q&A (which did not actually take place in a bar).
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Tyler Sparrow-Mungal | November 15, 2024
The author summarizes the key takeaways from the November 4, 2024 OBA Labour & Employment Law Section program "How to Advise Your Labour and Employment Clients in the Artificial Intelligence Age." Topics include AI regulation, AI in hiring, and AI in termination decisions.
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Asleep at the Switch: Ignoring Employee Harassment Leads to a Colossal Damages Award
Carson Healey | November 05, 2024
Ontario’s courts have once again proven that serious consequences ensue for employers who do not protect their employees from harassment. In Stride v. Syra Group Holdings, the court issued an award of $125,000 in human rights damages and $50,000 in moral damages for the abusive and harsh treatment the plaintiff endured.
Learn moreAt Last! Employers Score a Much-Needed Victory in the Battle Over Termination Clauses!
Andrew Bratt, Drew McArthur and Rachel Corwin | October 25, 2024
Notwithstanding the increasing scrutiny and frequent invalidation of termination provisions by trial judges, it is still worthwhile for employers to include restrictive termination provisions in employment contracts as there are numerous examples of courts upholding the language when properly drafted. The latest example is Bertsch v. Datastealth.
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Balancing Fairness and Confidentiality: Lessons from Jarvis v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank
Tiana Terrigno | October 15, 2024
A recent Superior Court decision serves as a crucial reminder for employers to “think carefully before assuring complainants that their complaints can and will be kept confidential,” especially if those complaints will be used to justify a termination for cause.
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The Duty to Investigate Workplace Harassment Exists, Even in the Absence of a Complaint
Inna Koldorf | September 20, 2024
Recently, the Ontario Divisional Court confirmed that incidents of harassment have to be investigated even in circumstances where there was no complaint, the harassing conduct was undertaken after working hours and away from the workplace, and the victim of the conduct did not wish to file a complaint.
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Prepare for AI Regulation Ahead When Advising Employer Clients
Maciej Lipinski | September 20, 2024
While many employers are already considering, or are in the process of, taking steps to address the growing adoption and use of generative AI among their employees, important legal regulatory frameworks are also in development at both the Provincial and Federal levels. For lawyers advising employer clients grappling with generative AI in the workplace, it is increasingly important to keep an eye on the regulatory developments ahead.
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Introducing the Totally Not Fake Dictionary of Ontario Employment Law
Mitchell Rose | September 20, 2024
This article contains excerpts from The Totally Not Fake Dictionary of Ontario Employment Law. In this new, groundbreaking work, the author aims to “tell it like it is." Readers will note that most entries contain multiple definitions drawn from real life. Pick the definition that you prefer depending on who your client is presently, and your deeply held biases.
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Marentette v Canada: The Weight of Procedural Fairness
Procedural fairness is critical to conducting appropriate workplace investigations and is a central component of ensuring objectivity and propriety in the investigation process. As illustrated in this recent Federal Court decision, a failure to ensure the procedural fairness of an investigation can be fatal to its ultimate findings – or invalidate the investigation entirely.
Learn moreBonus or Bust: Unravelling Employee Entitlements Post-Termination
Shan Malhi, JD Candidate 2025, Western University, Faculty of Law | July 02, 2024
A review of the legislative and jurisprudential frameworks regarding employee bonus entitlement subsequent to the termination of their employment.
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Dufault Case Finds New Faults with Termination Provisions
Robert Richler | April 17, 2024
A recent case underscoring the importance of ensuring termination clauses adhere to ESA minimum requirements and the need for employers to carefully consider whether to use fixed-terms when hiring employees.
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Irfan Kara and Alexandra Lawrence | April 17, 2024
The BC Court of Appeal affirms that an employee's surreptitious recordings of meetings and conversations with other employees, which were discovered post-termination in the course of litigation, constituted after-acquired just cause for dismissal.
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Wrongful Dismissal & ADR: 2023 Caselaw in Review
Mitchell Rose, LL.B., C. Med, Q. Arb | March 05, 2024
Court backlogs worsened in 2023 thereby significantly delaying wrongful dismissal actions. While ADR processes help to reduce backlogs, Ontario does not have province-wide mandatory mediation, and most arbitration is a result of contractual termination clauses that can be challenged. One way to encourage voluntary mediation is for courts to penalize parties for failure to participate. So, how did our Courts fare in 2023 in promoting mediation and arbitration in wrongful dismissal matters?
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Breaching Settlements by Posting: Lessons for Labour and Employment Law Counsel
Brendan Egan | February 05, 2024
Social media is a common part of most Canadians’ everyday lives. However, social media’s promise of nearly unlimited connectedness can pose problems when parties compromise their settlement agreements through their social media activity. This overview of two recent, non-judicial decisions provides labour and employment law lawyers with practical guidance on how to navigate settlement agreements in the era of social media.
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The Ethical Screen: A How to Guide
Tahir Khorasanee (associate) and Rachel McKenzie (student-at-law) | May 02, 2023
The Ethical Screen: A How-to Guide provides readers with a current and concise overview of the regulations and expectations associated with an Ethical Screen. Reference to Ontario v. Chartis Insurance Company of Canada exemplifies how to avoid the consequences of an inadequate Ethical Screen.
Learn moreCurtis v. Medcan: Class Actions are the Go-To Procedure for Systemic Workplace Violations
Andrew Monkhouse & Alisa Mirkovic | April 27, 2023
This article summarizes Curtis v. Medcan Health Management Inc. 2022 ONSC 5176, in which the Ontario Superior Court of Justice held that class actions are preferable to ESA claims for employment cases.
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