In a decision issued February 29, 2016, Justice Morrison of the NB Court of Queen’s Bench, dismissed an appeal which would have otherwise compelled a University to disclose severance payment information, which was expressly shielded by a confidentiality clause.
Many employers find themselves in a difficult position when they are advised by Service Canada that an employee they terminated for just cause has applied, and been approved, for Employment Insurance (“EI”) benefits.
The recent decision of Fleming v. Massey raises the very interesting question of whether an injured employee can waive his or her rights under Part X of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act (WSIA).
In Flatt v Canada (Attorney General), 2015 FCA 250 (CanLII), the Federal Court of Appeal (“FCA”) visited the issue of whether the decision to breastfeed one’s child is protected by human rights legislation.
Given its rise in popularity in Canadian employment law over the past year, it is only fitting that the subject of the last Employment and Labour publication for 2015 consider a recent decision relating to this evolving area of human rights law.
Early this year, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal chartered into new territory when it awarded an employee $150,000 in damages for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect that were caused by the employer’s egregious violation of the employee’s human rights.
Since 2012, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission has adopted a restorative approach as the first option in addressing human rights complaints. If a complaint is referred to a Board of Inquiry, parties have the option to either proceed to a traditional hearing, or agree to a Restorative Board of Inquiry process.
The employee, Ms. Steel (“Steel”), made a summary judgment application to the Supreme Court of British Columbia (“BCSC”) for damages for wrongful dismissal from her employment with Coast Capital Savings Credit Union (the “Employer”).
In Adekayode v Halifax (Regional Municipality), 2015 CanLII 13866, a Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission Board of Inquiry recently considered a complaint alleging that an employer’s failure to provide a top-up of employment insurance benefits for biological parents during a parental leave was discriminatory.
The definition of “family status” under human rights legislation continues to be one of the hottest topics in Canadian employment law.