David Yazbeck will co-chair the Lancaster House Ottawa Labour Law Conference, on May 16-17 at the Ottawa Conference Centre.
Category Archives: News
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.
RCBY Recognizes National Day of Mourning
On April 28, people across the globe pause to pay respects to their brothers and sisters who have died or been injured at work.
Just over twenty years ago, the Canadian Labour Congress declared the date a Day of Mourning; a date that is now observed in over 100 countries.
In Canada, in 2008, there were at least two deaths per day on the job, and nearly a million workplace injuries.
By spreading the word, we hope to encourage remembrance, recognition of the issues, and the promotion of safe and healthy workplaces.
Click here for more information on events in communities across Ontario.
RavenLaw Sponsors Ottawa Folk Festival – September 4-8, 2013
Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck is proud to continue its sponsorship of the Ottawa Folk Festival for a fourth consecutive year. This year Folk Festival Participants will be able to see many fabulous acts on the RavenLaw stage.
Set amidst the natural beauty of Hog’s Back Park, the Ottawa Folk Festival is a four-day celebration of music, dance, visual arts and community featuring an eclectic mix of musical performances on two evening and five daytime stages, plus participatory music workshops, special children’s and family performances, beer gardens, artisan and craft vendors, and much more. Given our work with employees and unions in labour and human rights matters, it is a pleasure to support artists who share our passion for and commitment to social justice and equality.
For further information about this year’s festival, including tickets and schedule, please visit http://ottawafolk.com/
2010 Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP Prize in Human Rights Awarded
We are very proud to announce that Michelle Gordon has been awarded this year’s Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP Prize in Human Rights at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Common Law Section.
Every year, our firm sponsors a prize for the student who achieves the highest standing in the “Human Rights Laws in Canada” course at the law school. Human rights law is a fundamental component of our legal system and a major component of our law practice. It is important to recognize achievements in this area, and to encourage students to pursue human rights law when they practice.
Congratulations Michelle, and best of luck in your legal career!
Pay Equity: Supreme Court of Canada allows PSAC’s Appeal
Our firm recently represented the Public Service Alliance of Canada (“PSAC”) in an appeal before the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s 2005 decision to uphold PSAC’s pay equity complaint against Canada Post.
In a rare ruling from the bench, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal, reinstating the Tribunal’s decision against Canada Post. The complaint, presented in 1983, resulted in a long-fought legal battle by PSAC, first to have the case referred to Tribunal and then to see the matter through the adjudicative process, which included over 400 hearing days spanning ten years. The award for lost wages and the interest thereon is estimated to be worth approximately $250 million.
The Supreme Court’s decision has significant implications for both the individuals involved and the pay equity jurisprudence under the Canadian Human Rights Act. In endorsing wholesale the dissenting reasons set out by Justice Evans at the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court re-affirmed the validity of the 1986 Equal Wages Guidelines, including the gender predominance thresholds set out therein. The Supreme Court also confirmed the Tribunal’s decision to accept the expert evidence tendered by PSAC, which demonstrated that Canada Post had failed to pay workers in the female-dominated CR Group equal pay for work of equal value performed by the male-dominated PO Group.
Congratulations to PSAC for this hard-fought and important victory!
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Renders Groundbreaking Decision On Family Status
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal recently released its groundbreaking decision in Johnstone v. Canada Border Services Agency. In its ruling, the Tribunal held that Fiona Johnstone’s employer failed to accommodate her family status obligations and, in particular, her need to provide child care for her children.
Fiona Johnstone, a Border Service Officer with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), requested a fixed shift schedule to allow her to arrange child care for her child. Like her husband, who also works at CBSA, Mrs Johnstone worked an irregular rotating shift schedule – 24 hours a day, seven days a week – which made it impossible to find a child care provider. The employer stated that it would provide a static shift for Mrs Johnstone, but forced her into part-time status.
Mrs Johnstone presented a complaint in 2004 under theCanadian Human Rights Act, which was ultimately referred to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for a hearing. Mrs Johnstone was supported throughout this process by her union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
In its defence, the employer argued that the test for family status discrimination should be higher than that of other grounds of discrimination. In particular, the employer argued that family status discrimination should only be found where there is a “serious interference” with a “substantial parental obligation.” Mrs Johnstone, with legal representation from our firm, maintained that the threshold for demonstrating discrimination in a family status case should be no different than for any other ground of discrimination. The Tribunal agreed with Mrs Johnstone, stating that “an individual should not have to tolerate some amount of discrimination to a certain unknown level before being afforded the protection of theAct.” The Tribunal found that Mrs Johnstone had established aprima facie case of discrimination.
The Tribunal also rejected the employer’s argument that it would suffer undue hardship if it was required to accommodate Mrs Johnstone. In particular, the Tribunal rejected the employer’s submission that there would be health and safety concerns associated with Mrs Johnstone working 13-hour shifts and also rejected the expert evidence tendered by the employer that providing accommodation to Mrs Johnstone would open the floodgates to other requests for family status accommodation at CBSA. The Tribunal noted that, other than the expert report that was prepared for litigation and expressly rejected by the Tribunal, the employer had undertaken no analysis or consultations concerning the possibility of accommodating Mrs Johnstone’s child care needs.
The Tribunal ruled that CBSA’s conduct was willful and reckless in depriving Mrs Johnstone of her employment opportunities. The Tribunal ordered CBSA to pay Mrs Johnstone for lost wages and pension benefits, as well as damages totalling $35,000.
The full text of the Tribunal’s decision is available here.
2012 Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck Human Rights/Social Justice Internship
Our firm is renewing its partnership with the University of Ottawa and continues its commitment and funding to the Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP/s.r.l. Human Rights/Social Justice Internship which provides a student with an opportunity to work full time over the summer as an intern in the areas of social justice and human rights.
This is a program that we are very proud of as it gives students excellent experience in these areas but also provides legal support to social justice organizations. This year, the host organizations are the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW) and the Council of Canadians.
If your organization works in the areas of social justice and human rights and you are interested in having an intern in the future, please contact David Yazbeck at 613-567-2901.