Sean McGee Inducted as Fellow of College of Labour and Employment Lawyers

On November 14, 2020, Sean McGee was inducted as a Fellow of the College of Labour and Employment Lawyers. The College was founded in the United States. It is an organization that promotes achievement, advancement and excellence in the practice of labour and employment law, as well as working to establish leadership, high standards of professionalism, and civility among labour and employment lawyers. The College has fellows in the United... Read More

RavenLaw Hosts Fall Long-Term Disability Conference

On September 24, 2020, RavenLaw hosted its fall LTD conference via video conference. The conference focused on long-term disability claims in the context of post-concussion syndrome and brain injuries. The conference was attended by many union representatives of several federal public sector unions and by non-unionized employees. A neurological physiotherapist, Amaal Mirani of Lifemark Physiotherapy, provided a medical view on the fundamentals of concussions and post-concussion syndrome, their effects on... Read More

Bargaining in a COVID Economy. Get Informed – It’s Your Right

For unions, another round of negotiations has often meant getting back into a familiar pattern: deliver notice to bargain, prepare proposals, have a series of sometimes constructive, sometimes frustrating discussions across the bargaining table, perhaps resort to strike or face a lockout, then arrive at a collective agreement. We are living in a different world.  Do not assume same-old is the same old. A union may have a right to... Read More

Supreme Court Finds RCMP Pension Scheme Discriminates Against Women

On October 16, 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a Charter challenge to portions of the RCMP pension plan, which had been applied to prevent employees from buying back periods of service during which they had temporarily reduced hours of work for childcare reasons. In its decision, the majority of the Supreme Court concluded that the pension law had a disproportionate, negative impact on women due to their sex. Particularly,... Read More

Court Rules Wage Restraint Legislation Unconstitutional

A recent decision of the Manitoba Court of Queens Bench has found that legislation which purported to cap wage increases for unionized public sector employees infringed the Charter right to freedom of association. Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative Party was elected in April 2016 and, shortly thereafter, Cabinet recommended adopting wage-freezing legislation modeled on legislation that had previously been used to limit increases to public sector wages in Nova Scotia. The legislation... Read More

The pandemic does not override human rights at work

Ravenlaw gratefully acknowledges the contribution of this post by articling student Simcha Walfish. When the land border between Canada and the United States closed in March, thousands of people who make the daily commute to work across the border were left in a difficult situation. United Steelworkers Local 2251 v Algoma Steel Inc. deals with one such person, a machinist apprentice at a steel plant in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.... Read More

Jessica Greenwood to Speak on Employment Issues during COVID-19

On September 25, 2020, Jessica Greenwood will speak at the annual Kingston and the 1000 Islands Legal Conference. She will participate in a panel addressing employment litigation issues arising due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year’s conference is proceeding virtually. The conference is hosted by the Frontenac Law Association.   Read More

Alison McEwen Presents on Wrongful Termination Notice Periods

On September 10, 2020, Alison McEwen spoke at the Ottawa Six-Minute Employment Lawyer workshop, presented by the County of Carleton Law Association. Alison spoke on trends in the notice periods awarded in wrongful dismissal cases, including increases in notice periods for older workers. Read More

Andrew Astritis Speaks at Osgoode Hall Class Actions Conference

On September 17, 2020, Andrew Astritis spoke at the Osgoode Hall Professional Development conference on Class Actions: Critical and Emerging Issues. Andrew participated in the panel on “#MeToo Comes to Class Actions”. Andrew is part of the team at RavenLaw that has been representing current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces in the class action involving sexual misconduct in the military, which was settled in 2019. Read More

Even old grievances might not be moot

Ravenlaw gratefully acknowledges the contribution of this post by articling student Karen Sisson. A recent decision of the Ontario Arbitration Board affirms the employee’s right to a hearing for grievances related to systemic issues in the workplace, even where the issue may appear to be moot. In the 2020 CAS v CUPE[1] decision, the employer had made a motion to dismiss an employee’s 2016 grievances, which alleged an incident of... Read More