RavenLaw is proud to sponsor an upcoming fundraising casino night in support of The Rehab Centre Volunteer Association. TRCVA provides last resort funding for rehab patients who need essential medical equipment or devices.
The event will be held on April 25, 2024, and tickets are now on sale. For more information, click here.
On April 10, 2024, Dayna Steinfeld will be presenting on the duty to accommodate in return to work from disability leaves as part of the Rehabilitation Return to Work Partnership Annual Conference. Titled “Wellness: a Whole-istic Approach to Return to Work”, the one-day conference provides unions, employers, and disability case managers with current information and resources for working through return to work issues.
For more information or to register, please visit the conference website.
On March 13, 2024, Morgan Rowe presented as part of a panel on legal careers in social justice, hosted by the University of Ottawa’s Social Justice Society. Morgan and the panel discussed common questions and recommendations for people interested in opportunities, experiences, and employment paths in social justice legal work.
On March 14, 2024, Amarkai Laryea will present on a Lancaster House panel examining how stereotypes, bias, and other equity, diversity, and inclusion considerations can influence how credibility is assessed in grievance procedures, in investigations, and at arbitration. Panelists will highlight strategies for addressing these concerns.
For more information or to register, please see the webinar website.
On March 6, 2024, Kundera Provost-Yombo spoke on a panel hosted by the Association of Canadian Financial Officers, North America’s largest union representing exclusively accountants, comptrollers, auditors, and financial professionals.
The panel discussed the legal principles of discrimination based on race, colour, nationality, and ethnicity, as well as recent trends in legal cases addressing racial discrimination in the workplace.
Dayna Steinfeld has been profiled in the upcoming Member Spotlight section of the Manitoba Bar Association’s Headnotes & Footnotes March 2024 publication. Dayna first became a member of the Manitoba Bar Association in 2009 and then rejoined after returning to Winnipeg in 2016.
Click here to read about Dayna’s experiences as a member of the Bar Association and her reflections on her career as a labour and employment lawyer.
Special thanks to the MBA for granting permission to republish the article that appears in the March 2024 edition of Headnotes & Footnotes.
On February 29, 2024, Amanda Therrien will be co-hosting the National Association of Women and the Law’s 50th Anniversary Reception and Awards Ceremony on Parliament Hill, along with NAWL Executive Director, Tiffany Butler. Members of Parliament and Senators will join NAWL to honour the substantive contributions NAWL’s volunteers and partners have made toward advancing substantive equality for women over the past 50 years.
For more information about the event and NAWL’s anniversary, please visit theanniversary website.
CAF/DND Sexual Misconduct Class Action – Late Claims Update
The Court has made a decision respecting late claims, which can be found here.
The Court has decided that the Administrator shall accept late claims submitted after the final claims deadline of January 23, 2022, if the claimant establishes: (1) a continuing intention to pursue the matter; (2) the claim has some merit; (3) no prejudice arises from the delay; and (4) there is a reasonable explanation for the delay. The Court also noted that “the failure to establish one of the preceding criteria is not determinative as the real test is ultimately that justice be done between the parties”, but that “it will ordinarily be necessary for the claimant’s explanation to account for the totality of the delay, up to and including the date on which the claim is submitted”.
However, the Court held that the Administrator cannot accept any late claims beyond 30 days following this decision, being Sunday, February 5, 2023.
The Court held that, due to the need for finality and to close the administration process, February 5, 2023 is the ultimate deadline to file your materials with the Administrator and seek its approval to file a late claim. This date cannot be extended.
Please note that the decision and the instructions below also apply to individuals seeking to add a category to an existing claim after the January 23, 2022 deadline.
A blank Claim Form is available here. Claim Forms and reasons should be submitted directly to the Administrator, at:
Epiq Class Action Services Canada Inc.
Attention: CAF-DND Sexual Misconduct Class Action Settlement
P.O. Box 507 STN B
Ottawa ON K1P 5P6
Email: info@caf-dndsexualmisconductclassaction.ca
Please contact class counsel as soon as possible if you have questions about how to make a late claim request. Class counsel are preparing additional materials to help class members with this process, and are available to provide assistance for free.
Contact information for class counsel is available here. You should contact the class counsel firm who is located in your region of Canada.
On October 31, 2022, the Ontario Court of Appeal issued a decision, overturning a mitigation decision in a wrongful dismissal case.
The Superior Court judge had found that the Appellant was wrongfully dismissed from her employment and entitled to eight months’ reasonable notice of termination. However, the judge also concluded that the Appellant had failed to act reasonably in her duty to mitigate her losses and therefore reduced her notice period to six months.
On appeal, the Court of Appeal found that the judge’s decision was based on two errors. First, the judge incorrectly held that the Appellant had taken insufficient mitigation steps because she had not applied for lower-paying positions than the one she was terminated from. The Court of Appeal confirmed that the duty to mitigate only requires an employee to look for employment “that is comparable in status, hours and remuneration to the position held at the time of dismissal.” The Court also found that the judge had placed too much weight on the titles of the positions that the Appellant had applied for, without looking at whether the duties were, in fact, comparable to the Appellant’s former position.
Second, the Court of Appeal found that there was no evidence to support the judge’s assumption that the Appellant would have increased her chances of finding new employment if she had made more efforts. The judge could not rely on such an assumption without some evidence to support it. In addition, the Court highlighted that simply assuming that more efforts would increase an employee’s chances of finding new employment did not complete the mitigation test. The legal test required assessing whether the employer had proven that “if reasonable steps in mitigation had been taken by the appellant, [the appellant] would have found a comparable position during the reasonable notice period.” The judge had therefore not performed the right analysis.
As a result, the Court of Appeal overturned the Superior Court’s decision and directed that the Appellant be paid the full eight month notice period, without a reduction due to mitigation.
The Appellant was represented by Morgan Rowe of RavenLaw and Dorian Persaud of Persaud Employment Law.
Did Skip the Dishes terminate your employment? We have a dedicated team of Employment Lawyers ready to help. Severance packages can be confusing, which is why we’re committed to answering all of your questions and helping you through this uncertain time. Email info@ravenlaw.com to schedule an appointment today with one of our experienced Employment Lawyers to review your termination package and ensure you get a fair deal. You can meet with us in person, by video conference or by phone.