RavenLaw was proud to support this year’s Ten Oaks Project Camp Bowl-a-Thon. This annual event helps bring much-needed funds to the Ten Oaks Project organization and connects children and youth from LGBTQ+identities, families and communities with their supporters. This year’s event surpassed the $40,000 fundraising goal.

The Ten Oaks Project engages and connects children and youth from LGBTQ+ communities through programs and activities rooted in play.

David Yazbeck has been named an Advisor to FOLKRUM, Ottawa’s community music venue. FOLKRUM is an independent, not-for-profit organization working toward the creation of a creativity hub and music facility to serve Ottawa, Outaouais, the valley and surrounding areas.

On May 12, 2015,  RavenLaw lawyers Raphaëlle Laframboise-Carignan, Morgan Rowe and Dayna Steinfeld will be participating in a panel discussion on disability insurance issues as part of an International Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/ Fibromyalgia (ME/FM) Awareness Day event hosted by MESH Ottawa. Topics of discussion will include the duty to accommodate, Canada Pension Plan Disability, and short-term and long-term disability benefits. The panel will also feature Margaret Parlor, President of the National ME/FM Action Network, who will provide facts and background on Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

More information about the event, including how to register, can be found here.

In a recent arbitration decision, Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Local 464 v Ottawa Hospital, Arbitrator Mary Ellen Cummings found that the Ottawa Hospital’s application of its short-term sick leave benefits discriminated against employees with chronic disabilities, contrary to the Human Rights Code. The collective agreement language at issue in the case is common throughout most of the hospital sector in Ontario, and this decision sets an important precedent for how absences due to chronic illnesses must be handled in the province.

Background

The case related to sick leave benefits under the Hospitals of Ontario Disability Income Plan (“HOODIP”). Under HOODIP, employees have up to 15 weeks of short-term sick pay benefits for each period of absence. Article 16.03 in the Collective Agreement states: “No sick pay benefit is payable under HOODIP for the first fifteen hours of absence for the sixth and subsequent period(s) of absence in the same fiscal year”. The Ottawa Hospital applied this rule such that any absences separated by three weeks or more were treated as distinct “periods of absence”, even if the absences were all due to the same chronic illness. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union filed a policy grievance against the Hospital, arguing that this interpretation of “period of absence” discriminated against employees who have chronic illnesses that periodically reoccur (e.g. migraines, Crohn’s Disease).

Arbitrator’s Decision

The Arbitrator found that the use of a three-week gap to identify distinct periods of absence had an adverse impact on employees with chronic illnesses compared to other employees receiving sick leave benefits. Employees with frequent, short absences due to a chronic illness will reach their sixth and subsequent “period of absence” more quickly than other employees, due to the nature of their disability. Treating these absences as a “new ailment”, simply because they were separated by three weeks, failed to address the circumstances of employees with chronic illnesses.

Arbitrator Cummings further found that this discrimination was not justified as reasonable and bona fide. She rejected the Hospital’s argument that it would be too onerous to determine whether absences were due to a chronic disability, holding: “looking at the individual needs of employees with disabilities and determining to what extent accommodation is required is the minimum required of all employers under the Code.”

The grievance was allowed, and the Hospital was directed to stop counting absences separated by more than three weeks as a distinct period of absence when the employee has a chronic illness. The Arbitrator further directed the employer to look at absences of employees with chronic illnesses and determine whether the employee can be accommodated, and if so how. She emphasized that accommodation may take many possible forms, and so a single remedy would be inappropriate.

This Award sets an important precedent, not only for collective agreements in the hospital sector with similar language, but also more broadly for treatment of employees’ absences when they are due to a chronic, recurring illness. Arbitrator Cummings’ decision provides strong confirmation that there is not a ‘one size fits all’ approach to managing employees’ attendance, and employers must look at each individual’s circumstances and needs.

The Union was represented by Wassim Garzouzi and Amanda Montague-Reinholdt from Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP/s.r.l.

On February 11, 2015, Arbitrator Randi Abramsky issued a decision interpreting the job posting provisions under the central agreement between Ontario Hospitals and the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions/CUPE. Specifically, Arbitrator Abramsky found that postings, whether electronic or paper, must be accessible to ensure that the purpose of these provisions – which is to ensure that Unions and employees are aware of available bargaining unit openings so they may apply for them and exercise their seniority rights – is met.

For over thirty years, the practice at the Health Sciences North (“Hospital”) was to post job opportunities on a physical bulletin board. In 2013, the Hospital unilaterally ended this practice and began posting job opportunities exclusively through a web portal that it had developed. The new system was complex and required employees to follow several steps before being able to access the job postings. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (“CUPE”), Local 1623, challenged the Hospital’s decision as many of its members were unable to access the new system.

Arbitrator Abramsky concluded that there was “evidence that some senior employees’ ability to exercise their seniority to apply for job postings has been diminished by the new online posting system.  The system utilized requires at least a minimal level of computer-use knowledge to access job postings. It is far less accessible […]”

The arbitrator ordered the Hospital to use a posting system that employees are able to access and consequently, “for the time being and until a more accessible electronic system is devised, the Employer must continue to post job openings on the physical bulletin board, in addition to posting them online.”

CUPE, Local 1623 was represented by its President, Dave Shelefontiuk, and Wassim Garzouzi from our firm.

On March 3, 2015, Kim Patenaude presented a workshop at Industry Canada on “The Respectful Workplace”.  The bilingual workshop was organized by Reach Canada and attended by over 30 employees in the National Capital Region.

Reach Canada has offered lawyer referrals and public education for individuals living with disabilities since 1981. Our firm is a long-term, proud supporter of REACH and its mission to improve the quality of life for citizens with disabilities.

The partners of Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck are pleased to announce the selection of the successful 2015 Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck Human Rights/Social Justice Internship candidate, Jacob Saltiel. Jacob is in his second year of studies at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. Jacob has had excellent experience in Access to Justice issues as well as issues concerning refugee rights. He currently serves as Vice-Chair of the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, uOttawa Chapter and is an assistant editor with the Ottawa Law Review. We congratulate Jacob on his achievement and look forward to working with him this summer when the internship takes place.

This is the tenth consecutive year that our firm has offered this Human Rights/Social Justice internship. Every summer, we provide paid employment to a student from the University of Ottawa Law School with placements in our firm and two social justice or human rights organizations. This year, Jacob will be working with the Workers History Museum and with the Broadbent Institute. Previous placements for our internship have included the International Development Research Centre, EGALE Canada, Amnesty International, the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, the Council of Canadians, REACH Canada, and many other organizations which provide significant contributions in the areas of social justice and human rights.

On Sunday, March 8, 2015, the Ottawa and District Labour Council hosted its annual International Women’s Day Dinner. The sold out event was attended by community and labour activists who gathered to celebrate and reflect on women’s roles in both the labour movement and the workplace.

Keynote speaker, Cindy Oliver, President of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of British Columbia, gave a rousing presentation on the importance of ensuring that all work environments, especially trades, are accessible and safe for women, while highlighting the work that still needs to be done to achieve true gender equality.

The theme of the evening was “Sisters Sharing Hope Vision Solidarity” and was sponsored by the Ottawa District Labour Council Women’s Committee.

Wassim Garzouzi from our firm attended the successful event.

On February 23, 2015, Morgan Rowe spoke to the University of Ottawa Law School’s disability law class about issues related to accommodation and inclusion facing young Canadians with disabilities. Morgan’s presentation focused on disability accommodation issues in employment, education and transportation. The presentation also involved discussion of the findings of the study outlined in Morgan’s book, Exploring Disability Identity and Disability Rights Through Narratives, which was co-authored with University of Ottawa Professor Ravi Malhotra.