Category Archives: News

The Federal Court of Appeal unanimously upheld the decision of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal which found that Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) discriminated against Fiona Johnstone by failing to accommodate her family obligations. Ms Johnstone worked as a Border Services Officer at CBSA, requiring a fixed-shift schedule to arrange for child care. The employer refused to consider her request, given its view that it had no obligation under the Canadian Human Rights Act to accommodate her personal choices around childcare.

Ms Johnstone’s union, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) supported her throughout this lengthy human rights and Federal Court process battle.

In upholding the decision of the Tribunal, the Court of Appeal rejected the narrow approach to family status accommodation argued by the government. The Court confirmed that human rights legislation is to be interpreted in a broad and liberal manner and that family status includes child care and other legal family obligations.

The Court emphasized that there should be no hierarchy of rights, such that the test for family status accommodation was more difficult to meet than the other grounds of discrimination. Instead, employers are required to conduct a case-by-case analysis with a view to accommodating the particular needs of individual employees.

Ms Johnstone and her union, PSAC, were represented by Andrew Raven and Andrew Astritis of our firm. A copy of the decision can be found here.

David Yazbeck to chair Labour Law Conference

David Yazbeck will co-chair the Lancaster House Ottawa Labour Law Conference, on May 16-17 at the Ottawa Conference Centre.

Ravenlaw Presents a Brand New Ravenlaw.com

Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne and Yazbeck, LLP/s.r.l. takes great pride in helping working people across Canada. Doing so means we need a national presence and greater communications channels. To this end, we have created a brand new website that provides a greater level of access to our services.

The new Ravenlaw.com includes:

• Information about Ravenlaw and our values.
• Profiles and contact details of our lawyers, staff and students.
• Fields of expertise for each lawyer.
• News and updates from Ravenlaw.
• Career oppurtinities.
• Articling opportunties for students.
• A comprehensive directory of contact details, including social media.

Our website, like our practice is completely bilingual, available in both English and French.

Our new website is fully accessible and browsable by users with assistive technology. The site is also responsive, which means it will be dynamically rendered to be viewable on your desktop, tablet or smartphone. Our goal was to create an intuitive and dynamic website that anyone can access at any time.

Design and development was done by Ottawa-based agency Soshal. Soshal works with purpose-driven organizations to build effective websites that focus on helping people.

We welcome your feedback on the new Ravenlaw.com, and how we can continue to improve our website. Please send your feedback to info@ravenlaw.com .

Andrew Raven to speak on Accommodating Family Responsibilities

Andrew Raven will speak at the Lancaster House Ottawa Labour Law Conference, on May 15, 2003, on employers’ responsibilities to accommodate employees’ family responsibilities.

There is a growing understanding that employers, unions and employees must work together to assist workers in maintaining a functional balance between work life and family life. A failure to accommodate an employee’s family care obligations may be found to be discrimination on the part of the employer. It is important for workplaces to have clear policies and processes in place to assess family care issues as they arise and to implement accommodative measures where appropriate.

James Cameron To Speak on “Rights, Responsibilities, and Realities-Employment Law Matters for Government Executives”

On November 8, 2014, James Cameron from Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP will be speaking before members of the Association of Professional Executive of the Public Service of Canada APEX. James’ presentation on “Rights, Responsibilities, and Realities – Employment Law Matters for Government Executives” will highlight some surprising realities for APEX members.

Government executives may be surprised to learn that as they progress up the hierarchy, their access to basic employment law rights may actually narrow. What employment law rights and responsibilities government executives still possess or may access will be the focal point of this talk. The members will hear about basic legal principles governing demotions, terminations, changes to duties, severance packages, and other topics. Successful negotiation strategies, based on real-life experience with many Government Executives, will be discussed.

David Yazbeck and James Cameron will speak on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at a conference organized by REACH Canada at REACH conference

On June 7th, David Yazbeck and James Cameron will speak on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at a conference organized by REACH Canada. REACH has offered lawyer referrals and public education for individuals living with disabilities since 1981. Ravenlaw is a long-term, proud supporter of REACH.

For more information, and to register for the conference, please visit the REACH website: http://www.reach.ca/?action=site.show&lid=26&comaction=view&eid=NAXRU-6L6T4-QY6T6

Launch of Alison Dewar Scholarship in Women’s Equality, Labour and Human Rights Law

Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne and Yazbeck LLP is pleased to announce the launch of the Alison Dewar Scholarship in Women’s Equality, Labour and Human Rights Law.

This scholarship was created by the firm in partnership with the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL), in memory of our dear friend and colleague who died on October 17, 2013. The scholarship will be available annually to a female student at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law who demonstrates a commitment to pursuing a career in women’s equality and union-side labour, workers’ rights or human rights law. Alison devoted herself to this work and our firm is excited to support future lawyers who share her passion for these issues.

For more information on the scholarship please visit the University of Ottawa’s scholarship and bursary webpage <https://bourses.uottawa.ca/p/a/13364/> or contact the Financial Aid Administrator at the University of Ottawa’s Common Law Section. The deadline to apply is November 30, 2014.

National Gallery not obliged to bargain minimum payment to artists (Federal Court of Appeal)

A recent decision of the Federal Court of Appeal overturned a decision by the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal. A majority of the court held that the refusal of the National Gallery to discuss minimum compensation to artists did not constitute bad faith bargaining on the part of the Gallery, as the imposition of minimum fees for use of existing works fell within the sphere of copyright, and not within the scope of negotiable terms as defined by the Status of the Artist Act.

The case, found at this link, was argued by David Yazbeck and Wassim Garzouzi of our firm: http://decisions.fca-caf.gc.ca/en/2013/2013fca64/2013fca64.html

David Yazbeck appointed to CSA Group Working Group establishing a Whistleblower Guideline in Canada