Please note our office will be closed from December 23, 2017 until January 1, 2018. We will reopen for regular business hours on Tuesday, January 2, 2018 at 8:30 am.

Warmest wishes for a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year.

The partners of Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck are pleased to announce the selection of the successful 2017 Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck Human Rights/Social Justice Internship candidates, Megan Fultz and Emily Cumbaa. Both Megan and Emily are in the second year of their studies at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law. We congratulate Megan and Emily on their achievement and look forward to working with them this summer when the internship takes place.

This is the twelfth  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, Megan and Emily will be working with the Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA) and the Economic and Social Council of Ottawa-Carleton. Previous placements for our internship have included the Workers’ History Museum, International Development Research Centre, EGALE Canada, Amnesty International, the Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women, the Council of Canadians, REACH Canada, National Educational Association of Disabled Students and many other organizations which provide significant contributions in the areas of social justice and human rights.

The group of former military members who launched a class action regarding sexual misconduct in the Armed Forces has now filed a Statement of Claim in the Superior Court of Ontario. Amy Graham, Nadine Schultz-Nielsen, and Larry Beattie filed their full Statement of Claim on December 13, 2016, setting out their personal experiences of sexual assault and harassment, as well as the remedies that they are seeking on behalf of all class members.

The class action covers all current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces who have experienced sexual assault, sexual harassment and abuse of power in the course of their education, training and service in the military. The Statement of Claim seeks compensation for affected members, as well as declarations and systemic orders against the government to change a system that condones a culture of sexual misconduct and punishes victims instead of perpetrators.

You can read more about the Statement of Claim here:

• CBC News: Sexual-misconduct lawsuit against Armed Forces alleges ‘reckless’ conduct

• Radio-Canada: Les Forces canadiennes visées par un recours collectif de 1 milliard de dollars

• Le Journal de Montréal: Un recours collectif d’un milliard $ contre l’armée

For more information, or if you or your family member may be affected by the class action, you can contact Raven Law at armedforcesclassaction@ravenlaw.com.

On March 22, 2017, RavenLaw sponsored Reach Canada’s Jamming for Justice event. The concert celebrated the opening of Reach’s new headquarters and was emceed by RavenLaw’s own David Yazbeck. Reach Canada is a legal referral organization for persons with disabilities and is dedicated to providing education and information on all matters pertaining to disabilities. RavenLaw was proud to support Reach’s event and to help raise funds for its important work.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our dear friend and colleague, Mary Mackinnon. Mary joined the firm in 2006 and became a partner in 2008. She was a tireless advocate for workers’ rights who was highly respected in the legal community. Her work on behalf of individual employees, human rights claimants and unions is a testament to her deep personal commitment to social justice and equality. Mary was a wonderful colleague and a generous mentor to new lawyers. We will all miss her tremendously.

Donations in Mary’s memory can be made to Kidney Cancer Canada: www.kidneycancercanada.ca

RavenLaw reminds all interested students that applications for the 2017 Human Rights/Social Justice Internship are due this Friday, January 20, 2017. This is the 12^th consecutive year that this paid internship has been sponsored by the firm. This exciting opportunity will provide an excellent and meaningful summer work experience to law students who are particularly interested in issues pertaining to social justice, human rights or equality rights.

This year’s partner organizations are the Economic and Social Council of Ottawa-Carleton (CESOC – le Conseil Économique et Social d’Ottawa Carleton) and the Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA). Interested students from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law (common law) should contact Mélanie Clément at m.clement@uottawa.ca for more information on the internship or directions on how to submit their application.

In a recent decision, the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board allowed a complaint filed by the Public Service Alliance of Canada, alleging that the government had interfered with the union’s administration and its representation of members during collective bargaining. The complaint was filed after Treasury Board refused to permit a union negotiator to conduct walkthroughs of various worksites, and hold on-site meetings with members to discuss bargaining issues.

PSAC had filed a similar complaint in the last round of collective bargaining, which was also allowed by the Board. The Board had found the employer’s refusal to grant the union access to the worksite to violate the Public Service Labour Relations Act, and the Board ordered the employer to cease denying access in the absence of a compelling and justifiable business purpose.

In the more recent complaint, PSAC complained again that the employer was denying access to the worksite without any business justification; instead, the employer was simply relying on its property rights, and the limited rights of the union to enter the employer’s premises in the Collective Agreement. The union argued that the employer’s position showed a blatant disregard for the final and binding decision in the previous case.

In its decision, dated September 14, 2016, the Board again found in favour of the union. The Board held that the union had a legitimate interest in the negotiator viewing the worksite, and that the employer had not presented any compelling or justifiable reasons to deny access. The Board therefore allowed the complaint, and ordered the employer to cease denying access in the absence of compelling and justifiable business reasons that such access might undermine its legitimate workplace interests.

This is a significant victory for unions in the federal public service, and provides important affirmation of the union’s interest in gaining a better understanding of working conditions on the ground and meeting with members during collective bargaining.

The union was represented in the complaint by Amanda Montague-Reinholdt of RavenLaw.

On December 22, 2016, the Federal Court issued an interim Order in response to an application filed by 14 federal public service unions regarding the pay problems faced by their members since the implementation of the Government’s new pay system, known as Phoenix, in early 2016.

The order outlines a number of steps that the federal government must take to resolve the pay issues. These include sharing information in an open and transparent manner through the Union Management Consultation Committee, making Phoenix experts available to the Committee, maintaining a dedicated team of compensation advisors to address pay disruptions related to disability, maternity, and paternity leaves, and ensuring that individuals in these situations are not denied access to emergency replacement pay on the basis that they are on a period of leave. The interim Order provides additional protections to employees advancing individual claims for compensation and is without prejudice to the rights of the Unions should it become necessary to address the application on the merits.

The unions were represented in this application by Andrew Raven, Andrew Astritis, and Morgan Rowe of RavenLaw.

Ravenlaw is pleased to welcome Kim Patenaude and Wassim Garzouzi into the partnership, effective January 1, 2017. Both Kim and Wassim began their careers with Ravenlaw and have made significant contributions to the firm.

Kim is fluently bilingual and provides practical advice and representation to individual clients on issues such as wrongful dismissal, constructive dismissal, severance packages, employment contracts, non-compete clauses, long term disability benefit claims, WSIB/Workers’ compensation, discrimination, harassment, and accommodation. Kim has acted in matters before federal and provincial courts, boards, tribunals, and arbitrators on behalf of public and private sector unions, and employees.

Wassim maintains a robust bilingual practice dedicated exclusively to the representation of unions and their members in all areas of labour relations. Wassim specialises in arbitration proceedings and regularly appears before labour and arbitration boards across the country. He was elected by his peers to serve as Regional Vice-President for the Canadian Association of Labour Lawyers and is a Part-Time Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law, where he teaches the advanced Labour Law course.

We thank Kim and Wassim for their important work in advancing union and worker rights, and congratulate them on becoming partners.

In a recent decision, the Federal Court quashed a decision on behalf of the Minister of Labour, in which the Minister had refused to investigate the work refusal of a federal public service employee.

The Applicant employee had notified her employer that she was refusing to work for health and safety reasons in February 2015. On May 13, 2015, the Labour Affairs Officer assigned to the Applicant’s case completed a memorandum recommending a finding of dangerous work. Nonetheless, on July 13, 2015, the Applicant was advised that the Minister was declining to investigate her work refusal on the basis that her concerns were better addressed through a grievance.

In its January 31, 2017 decision, the Federal Court held that the Minister’s decision was unreasonable. The Court found that the decision-maker had offered no transparent or justifiable explanation for rejecting the Labour Affairs Officer’s recommendation or for concluding that the grievance process was a more appropriate way to address the Applicant’s concerns.

In reaching its conclusion, the Court also highlighted the importance of ensuring that refusals of unsafe work are dealt with in a timely manner, through the specialized process established under the Canada Labour Code, noting that it found the Applicant’s submissions on these points persuasive.

The Applicant was represented in this application by Andrew Raven and Morgan Rowe of RavenLaw.