Dayna Steinfeld has been awarded the 2022 Faculty of Law Alumni Emerging Leader Award by the University of Manitoba Faculty of Law.
The Emerging Leader Award honours a UM Law alumnus who has graduated within the last 10 years, has shown dedication and commitment to the legal profession, and has the qualities of integrity, professionalism, and leadership in their time practicing law. Read more about the award here.
On February 10, 2023, Amarkai Laryea presented as part of a panel at the Canadian Association of University Teachers Equity Conference. Amarkai presented as part of a panel, tiled “Yes, We Can Do This,” which addressed questions from conference participants on specific equity issues.
On January 19, 2023, Dayna Steinfeld will be moderating a panel at the Manitoba Bar Association 2023 Mid-Winter Conference, one of the marquee professional development events in Manitoba. Dayna will be moderating a panel discussion on “Pay Equity in the Legal Profession”, which will feature a diverse panel of speakers on the data (and lack thereof, due to resistance to the collection of data within the profession) to help legal professionals in Manitoba understand pay (in)equity in the legal profession.
Topics will include the findings and recommendations in the Canadian Bar Association’s report on pay equity in the profession, compensation studies of in-house counsel, relevant legal considerations, and the role that legal employers, law societies, governments and lawyers can play in closing the gender pay gap and achieving pay equity in the legal profession.
More information and registration are available here.
RavenLaw is proud to announce that Sarah-Claude L’Ecuyer has been awarded the 2022 Alison Dewar Scholarship in Women’s Equality, Labour and Human Rights Law.
Sarah-Claude is in her third year at the University of Ottawa and has demonstrated a deep commitment to the values that Alison held dear. She is the President and founder of the Social Justice Society, an active volunteer with the National Association of Women and the Law, and her article on the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society case will soon be published in the National Journal of Constitutional Law. Congratulations, Sarah-Claude!
In October 2022, Alison McEwen and Raphaëlle Laframboise-Carignan were in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. They presented workshops in association with the Law Society of Nunavut and spoke on the topic of preventing workplace harassment.
On November 15, 2022, Dayna Steinfeld will be presenting on a panel at The 28th Annual Manitoba Labour Law Review on the topics of employee duties in the unionized workplace, racial discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace, and privacy protections and limits for unionized workers. Dayna will be presenting on the panel from the perspective of union-side counsel.
The conference is organized and offered by the Centre for Labour-Management Development (Canada) Inc, an organization that works to keep unions and employers informed and up to date on the law and its impact on unionized workplaces in Canada. More information about the conference is available here.
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.
On October 12, 2022, Alison McEwen will be presenting at the 23rd Employment Law Summit, presented by the Law Society of Ontario. She will be speaking on the topic of return to the physical workplace, the challenges that arise with this return, and if there is a way to continue working from home.
For more information or to register for the Summit, visit the Law Society’s website.
On September 26, 2022, Morgan Rowe spoke to the University of Ottawa – Faculty of Common Law’s “Human Rights” class, as part of the class on emerging topics in human rights. Her presentation focused on topics related to sexual orientation, asexuality, and the regulation of personal relationships.