Honesty is the Best Policy: Deceitful Employers Jailed for Occupational Health and Safety Act Violations
As it turns out, the Ontario Court of Justice is as friendly to liars as the Ministry of Labour is to employers who don’t comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”). That is, not friendly at all. While most employers are mindful of the hefty fines they can receive for OHSA v…
View the post titled Honesty is the Best Policy: Deceitful Employers Jailed for Occupational Health and Safety Act ViolationsThree-Year Phase Out Proposed For Neonicotinoid Pesticide
In an interesting twist, Health Canada just announced its intention to manage the agricultural uses of the pesticide imidacloprid to protect aquatic insects; this pesticide, like other neonicotinoid pesticides, has been under fire for some time for its effects on pollinators, for which we ha…
View the post titled Three-Year Phase Out Proposed For Neonicotinoid PesticideConviction for Ivory Smuggler
Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued a combined fine totalling $12,500 against an auction company and its director for unlawfully exporting a product made of python and two pieces of elephant ivory. The products were exported in contravention of the Wild Animal and Plant Protecti…
View the post titled Conviction for Ivory SmugglerModernizing Municipal Legislation
On November 16, 2016 the Ontario government introduced changes to three key pieces of municipal legislation: Municipal Act, 2001, City of Toronto Act, Municipal Conflict of Interest Act. The proposed changes are focused on accountability and transparency; municipal financial sustainability; …
View the post titled Modernizing Municipal LegislationTerminating Employees for Criminal Charges: Does Just Cause Exist
We live in a society where our criminal justice system presumes a person innocent until proven guilty. That said, the reality is that many people criminally charged are guilty. Even where innocent, it can take months – if not years – before criminal charges are resolved, during which time it…
View the post titled Terminating Employees for Criminal Charges: Does Just Cause ExistPromising development in US climate change litigation
An interesting, and potentially important, climate change precedent has come out of a US federal court. We reported last year about a lawsuit launched by Our Children’s Trust, a group of youth seeking to invoke the public trust doctrine and the principle of intergenerational equity to push s…
View the post titled Promising development in US climate change litigationFirst Fines Are Issued Under The Violence Provisions Of The OHSA
We are now starting to see the first decisions being released that deal with violations of the (fairly) new violence provisions added to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (“OHSA”). For details on those changes, you can revisit Mary Lou Brady’s blog here. Two convictions and heavy financ…
View the post titled First Fines Are Issued Under The Violence Provisions Of The OHSAEndangered Species Regulation Upheld at Court of Appeal
In a decision released last month, Wildlands League v Ontario (Natural Resources and Forestry), 2016 ONCA 741, the Court of Appeal has held that a regulation made under the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) is valid. The regulation exempts certain industrial activities from the ESA’s prohibitio…
View the post titled Endangered Species Regulation Upheld at Court of AppealOngoing Evolution in the Law of Termination Provisions
Recent case law continues to address the enforceability of contractual provisions which try to limit employees’ entitlements on termination. Lawyers for terminated employees are keen to attack the validity of these clauses in an attempt to remove any cap on entitlements and extend the reason…
View the post titled Ongoing Evolution in the Law of Termination ProvisionsBeware the Employee Who Signs Too Quickly
Purchasing peace of mind against future litigation by offering a dismissed employee an exit package in exchange for a signed release is a common (and usually good) practice for employers. However, the B.C. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Saliken v. Alpine Aerotech Limited Partnership remi…
View the post titled Beware the Employee Who Signs Too QuicklyReceive Blog Posts
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