Morgan Rowe spoke on November 21, 2014 to the University of Ottawa law school’s human rights law course on emerging areas in human rights law.

On November 12, 2014, Andrew Astritis spoke to a labour law class at the University of Ottawa law school about three cases in which Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck appeared as an intervener before the Supreme Court: Mounted Police Association of Ontario v Attorney General of Canada, Robert Meredith v Attorney General of Canada, and Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v Her Majesty the Queen, in Right of the Province of Saskatchewan. Decisions in these cases, which involve labour rights and freedom of association, are currently pending from the Supreme Court.

On December 10, 2014, Andrew Astritis will be presenting at the 3rd Annual Human Rights Summit hosted by the Law Society of Upper Canada.  Andrew will be speaking on his recent, May 2, 2014, Federal Court of Appeal decision in Johnstone v. Canada Border Services Agency decision on family status accommodation. In this decision Justice Mainville  recognized that there “[t]here should be no hierarchy of human rights” and provided that “protection from discrimination for childcare obligations flows from family status in the same manner that protection against discrimination on the basis of pregnancy flows from the sex of the individual.  In both cases, the individual would not require accommodation were it not for the underlying ground (family status or sex) on which they were adversely affected.”  For additional information or registration, please go to the Law Society of Upper Canada’s website.

On December 9, David Yazbeck will be appearing in Federal Court on a judicial review of a decision of the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner. In the decision under review, the Commissioner dismissed a complaint by Charbel El-Helou that the Courts Administration Service took reprisals against him after he made protected disclosures of wrongdoing, pursuant to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (“PSDPA”).

Our firm is arguing on behalf of Mr. El-Helou that the decision of the Commissioner should be set aside because Mr. El-Helou was treated unfairly in the process. The judicial review also raises important questions involving the proper legal framework for determining if reprisals were taken against a whistleblower after making a protected disclosure under the PSDPA.

On November 24, 2014, the Canadian Artists’ Representation/Le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC) and the Regroupement des artistes visuels du Québec (RAAV) reached a tentative agreement with the National Gallery of Canada on the terms and conditions for the exhibition and reproduction of works of art, as well as the provision of professional services by living Canadian artists at the National Gallery. As CARFAC/RAAV explain, “The parties are proud to have reached this ground-breaking agreement to remunerate living Canadian artists, a historic milestone that will undoubtedly contribute to the long-term sustainability of the visual arts in Canada.” The agreement will now proceed to a ratification vote by members.

The ability of CARFAC/RAAV to reach this historic agreement is due in large part to the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Canadian Artists’ Representation v National Gallery of Canada in June of this year. CARFAC/RAAV were represented by David Yazbeck, Michael Fisher and Wassim Garzouzi from RavenLaw in this successful appeal to the Supreme Court.

On November 26, 2014, the Federal Court rendered its judgment overturning a decision of a grievance adjudicator under the Public Service Labour Relations Act. The Applicants were a group of employees who alleged they had been denied overtime opportunities contrary to their Collective Agreement. The adjudicator of their grievances rejected the arguments presented by the employer, but nonetheless dismissed the grievances on grounds that had never been argued or discussed during the hearing.

In its judgment (2014 FC 1136), the Federal Court held that the adjudicator had violated the Applicants’ rights to procedural fairness by denying them an opportunity to present evidence and arguments on the issue that formed the ultimate basis for the adjudicator’s decision. This decision confirms that, where an administrative decision-maker wishes to depart from the case as argued by the parties and render a decision on the basis of a new issue or argument, the decision-maker is obligated to give the parties an opportunity to make submissions on that new issue.

The Applicants were represented on the judicial review by Amanda Montague-Reinholdt of our firm.

On November 27, 2014, Arbitrator Frederick von Veh issued a decision reinstating a Canada Post motorized letter carrier after he was terminated for working with an expired driver’s license. The Arbitrator found that the employee had not acted deliberately and that he had simply forgotten to renew his license – “he made a mistake”.  Arbitrator von Veh concluded that inadvertent errors do not constitute “major misconduct”, a term often used by employers to justify discipline. As a result, the employee was reinstated.

At the hearing, the employee was represented by his union representative, Don Foreman of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (“CUPW”), and Wassim Garzouzi and Dayna Steinfeld from our firm.

Our office will be closed on Monday, December 15th from 1:30 pm  to 5:00 pm. We will return to regular office hours on Tuesday, December 16th.

On December 17, 2014, David Yazbeck will be moderating the Lancaster House Panel on Harassment and the Toxic Work Environment: Examining Rights and Remedies. This is one of a series of audio conferences presented by Lancaster House on a variety of topics affecting the workplace. Mr. Yazbeck has often acted as a moderator and speaker on these conferences.

For more information about this particular audio conference, visit the Lancaster House website here.

On December 11, 2014, Lancaster House is holding its annual Toronto Labour Arbitration conference, with workshops taking place before and after. David Yazbeck will be acting as the Union-side Co-chair for the conference and will participate as a moderator on a number of panels. Andrew Astritis will be speaking as union counsel on the panel dealing with family status discrimination.

Lancaster House is a leader in providing information on labour, employment and human rights law. Both Mr. Yazbeck and Mr. Astritis have participated in Lancaster House activities before. 

Kim Patenaude will be presenting a Post-Conference workshop on “Dealing with Discharge and Discipline: Progressive discipline, mitigating and aggravating factors, disability-related issues, union representation, post-discharge rehabilitation” for Lancaster House on Friday, December 12 at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto.