The fix is in? Court rules unenforceable termination clause does not invalidate term in fixed term contract In the 2023 decision of Kopyl v. Losani Homes (1998), a former employee of Losani Homes (“LH”) brought an application to the Ontario Superior Court requesting an interpretation of a one-year fixed term employment agreement between themselves and...Continue Reading

Human Rights and Vicarious Liability for Harassment While in many cases, an employer can be vicariously liable for the actions of its employees, a number of nuances come into play when it comes to human rights matters. Incognito v. Skyservice Business Aviation (2022 ONSC 1795) provides a helpful overview of these considerations, at least relating...Continue Reading

New Tort of Harassment Created in Alberta The Court of King’s Bench of Alberta has established the tort of harassment in the decision Alberta Health Services v Johnston. The judge found that the defendant’s public targeting of one of the plaintiffs (a public health inspector), triggered by his reaction to her enforcement of COVID-19 public...Continue Reading

The Sound of Silence: Pham v. Qualified Metal Fabricators Ltd. The recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision, Pham v. Qualified Metal Fabricators Ltd., 2023 ONCA 255, serves as a cautionary tale for employers who attempt to equate employee silence to condonation, and highlights the difficulties in relying on implied terms in the context of temporary...Continue Reading

Esi Codjoe will be speaking at the Ontario Bar Association’s Annual Update on Human Rights on Wednesday, May 24, 2023 at the Ontario Bar Association at 10:00 a.m. She’ll be speaking on Recent Human Rights Decisions and Developments. As always, the Annual Update on Human Rights will get you up to speed on the latest...Continue Reading

Ozlem Yucel is presenting at Lancaster House’s Toronto Human Rights and Accommodation Conference on April 18, 2023. She will discuss key issues related to workplace harassment, discrimination, and poisoned work environments. For more information and to register, click here.Continue Reading

Esi Codjoe is presenting at the Webinar for Advising on Balanced Workplace Cultures that Attract and Keep the Best Talent at the Canadian Bar Association Tuesday, March 28, 2023  12pm to 2pm. For registration please click here. This Webinar will deal with: Defining the organization’s goals in this area: working with management to assess needs...Continue Reading

The recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision, Celestini v. Shoplogix, 2023 ONCA 131 provides a salient commentary on the doctrine of changed substratum and serves as an important reminder for both employers and employees about the enforceability of employment agreements as an employee’s role evolves. The case also imparts helpful guidance on an employee’s bonus...Continue Reading

Turnpenney Milne is pleased to announce that Ozlem Yucel has joined the firm’s partnership. Ozlem Yucel advises and represents employees and employers in all areas of employment law, including: • terminations and severance packages, • wrongful and constructive dismissals, • dismissals for just cause, • bullying and harassment, • human rights and discrimination, • employment...Continue Reading

The recent case of Teljeur v. Aurora Hotel Group, 2023 ONSC 1324 (“Teljeur”) is an important one for employers and employees to take note of.  It highlights a growing tendency by courts to award elongated notice periods to short-tenured employees, as well as significant moral damages for an employer’s bad faith conduct. Facts By way...Continue Reading

Turnpenney Milne is happy to announce a new team member to the firm, Carolyn Denault! Carolyn is a highly collaborative, compassionate, and strategic advocate. As an associate lawyer at Turnpenney Milne LLP, she practices in all areas of management and employee-side employment law, as well as workplace investigations.  Continue Reading

When Catherine and Rachel founded Turnpenney Milne LLP 13 years ago, they sought to make the legal profession more inclusive for women and build a workplace where all team members thrive. Today, we are proud to say that we now have 15 female professionals at the firm, many of whom are reflected in our leadership....Continue Reading

Jeff Rochwerg and Kimberly Lennon are presenting at a Webinar for St. Lawrence College next Friday, March 10, 2023 at 12pm EST.  All are Welcome to join the webinar, click here to register. Human Resources Future of Work, Redesigning the Employee Experience. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. Topics:...Continue Reading

Wan v. Intek Communications Inc., 2022 CanLII 97950 The Facts The Complainant, Mr. Wan, started working for Intek Communications Inc., (“Intek”) as a Cable Technician in May 2007. In 2013 he suffered a workplace injury to his ankle. Unfortunately, in April 2014, the Complainant was involved in another workplace accident and later underwent a Functional...Continue Reading

Esi Codjoe and Shannon Sproule coached the Osgoode Hall Law School winning team at Isaac Moot! Their team won in two categories: Best Moot Team and Best Facta. We were thrilled to support the work of the next generation of lawyers who are interested in advocacy and human rights! Isaac moot has focused on an...Continue Reading

Authors: William Hockin and Cereise Ross Effective January 1, 2023, the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (“ESA”) no longer applies to individuals who are business consultants or information technology consultants when: they provide services through (i) a corporation of which they are a director or shareholder party to a unanimous shareholder agreement; or (ii) a sole...Continue Reading

Author:  Lindy Herrington In a recent Court of Appeal decision the Court provides guidance on what is considered reasonable steps at mitigation. Lake v. La Presse, 2022 ONCA 742 Facts Ms. Lake worked at La Presse as a General Manager for 5.5 years when she was terminated without cause. She was 52 years old and...Continue Reading

Esi Codjoe will be speaking at Civility for Litigators on Thursday, December 15, 2022 between 1:00pm to 4:00pm. For more information and to register please click on the link: https://advocates.ca/TAS/Events/Showcase_Pages/Civility_for_Litigators.aspx?EventKey=CIVILITY22  Continue Reading

Author: Nofil Nadeem Facts The Plaintiffs were Portfolio Managers of a hedge fund (the “Fund”) under the supervision of Martin Braun, a senior investment professional. The Fund was acquired by the Defendant, JC Clark Ltd. (“JC”). As part of the acquisition, the Plaintiffs were hired by JC as Portfolio Managers. The Portfolio Managers were subject...Continue Reading

Author: Shannon Sproule Wrongful dismissal takeaways from Gracias v. Dr. David Walt Dentistry, 2022 ONSC 2967: How to factor the pandemic’s impact into the assessment of mitigation and damages and insight into the significance of a reference letter. Facts The Plaintiff worked for the Defendant, Walt Dentistry on an occasional basis in 2017, and transitioned...Continue Reading

The Facts In Public Health Sudbury & Districts v Ontario Nurses’ Association, Arbitrator Herman upheld an employee’s entitlement to a creed-based exemption under the employer’s mandatory vaccination policy. Sudbury & District Health Unit, operating as Public Health Sudbury & Districts (“PHSD” or the “Employer”) is a public health agency located in Sudbury, Ontario. In response...Continue Reading

McGraw v. Southgate, 2021 ONSC 7000 The question that this case raises and answers is how can rumours, hearsay, gossip and innuendo be utilized in a workplace investigation. The Facts Melanie McGraw (“McGraw”) was a volunteer Fire Captain firefighter with the Dundalk Fire Department (“DND”), a part-time administrative assistant with the DFD as well as...Continue Reading

McGraw v. Southgate, 2021 ONSC 7000 The question that this case raises and answers is how can rumours, hearsay, gossip and innuendo be utilized in a workplace investigation. The Facts Melanie McGraw (“McGraw”) was a volunteer Fire Captain firefighter with the Dundalk Fire Department (“DND”), a part-time administrative assistant with the DFD as well as...Continue Reading

Turnpenney Milne is pleased to announce that Esi Codjoe has joined the firm’s partnership. Esi Codjoe is a pragmatic and solutions focused practitioner. She provides legal advice to employers and employees, in both non-unionized and unionized workplaces. Esi understands the unique human resources challenges faced by workplace parties in both the private and public sector....Continue Reading

An employee’s level of sophistication and access to independent legal advice has no bearing on the enforceability of a termination clause. Rahman v. Cannon Design Architecture Inc, 2022 ONCA 451 The Ontario Court of Appeal recently found that subjective considerations cannot override the plain wording of a termination clause. The decision reiterated that it is...Continue Reading