Morgan Rowe Presents on Accommodation and Inclusion Issues

On February 23, 2015, Morgan Rowe spoke to the University of Ottawa Law School’s disability law class about issues related to accommodation and inclusion facing young Canadians with disabilities. Morgan’s presentation focused on disability accommodation issues in employment, education and transportation. The presentation also involved discussion of the findings of the study outlined in Morgan’s book, Exploring Disability Identity and Disability Rights Through Narratives, which was co-authored with University of... Read More

Morgan Rowe Presents on Legal Issues Facing the Trans* Community

On March 12, 2015, Morgan Rowe spoke on a panel addressing key and emerging legal issues facing the trans* community. The panel was organized and hosted by OUTLaw, the LGBTQ Law Students’ Association at the University of Ottawa. Morgan spoke on trans* legal issues in the workplace, including discrimination in hiring and termination, workplace harassment, and the problems that arise from a medicalized approach to the duty to accommodate.   Read More

David Yazbeck Quoted in The Lawyers Weekly Magazine

David Yazbeck is quoted in “Charter vetting challenge heading to Federal Court”, an article in the January 2015 edition of The Lawyers Weekly magazine. The article discusses the upcoming Federal Court case of Schmidt v A.G. Canada. The Applicant, Edgar Schmidt, a former Department of Justice lawyer, sued the government in 2012. The lawsuit alleges that the Minister of Justice was failing to live up to his responsibilities under s.... Read More

Andrew Astritis speaks at Carleton University

On March 11, 2015, Andrew Astritis presented a lecture to a class of third year students in Carleton University’s Legal Studies program on Human Rights and Employment Law. The lecture provided a broad introduction to the protections provided by human rights legislation in the employment context, including the obligations on employers to accommodate employees to the point of undue hardship.   Read More

Taylor Akin joins the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre’s Board of Directors

On February 19th, 2015, RavenLaw Articling student, Taylor Akin, joined the Ottawa Rape Crisis Centre’s Board of Directors. The ORCC provides support and counseling to women who are survivors of sexual violence. Taylor has been interested in violence against women initiatives since her undergraduate degree and had the opportunity to take classes on gender-based violence in law school. After a year of volunteering with the ORCC, Taylor is very pleased... Read More

Confidentiality Agreements – Lessons from Jan Wong

Oftentimes, employees will chafe when they are asked to sign confidentiality agreements limiting their ability to talk about a settlement reached regarding the termination of their employment. Many employees feel (perhaps rightly) that doing so allows the employer to avoid a public shaming for its behavior.  In the end, most employers insist upon confidentiality as one of the terms of the settlement, and they regularly include recourse for themselves if... Read More

RavenLaw continues its support for the Workers’ History Museum

For a number of years, Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck has been an institutional member of the Board of Directors of the Workers’ History Museum. The museum held its annual general meeting on February 23, 2015 and the firm, through one of our partners, David Yazbeck, was confirmed as a Board Member again. In addition to supporting the museum as a Board Member, David has been granted the title of... Read More

Court confirms that employers bear the onus to prove just cause for termination

It has long been established in labour arbitration jurisprudence that, when presented with a grievance concerning discipline, the employer bears the onus of demonstrating just cause for that discipline. In order to determine whether there is just cause for termination or another disciplinary sanction, Arbitration Boards will consider several factors which include, not only the factual circumstances, but also any aggravating and mitigating factors. Recently, an Arbitration Board in Nova... Read More

“Manager” should be “narrowly construed”: CLC Adjudicator

On January 30, 2015, Adjudicator François Bastien, appointed pursuant to the Canada Labour Code, issued an important decision impacting all employees with supervisory duties working in federally regulated sectors. Generally, employees who are unjustly dismissed can bring a complaint and have their grievance heard by an adjudicator appointed under the Canada Labour Code. Managers cannot avail themselves of this process. In Timiskaming First Nation, the Employer brought a preliminary objection... Read More

Court Overturns Arbitrator’s Award on Vacation Credits

In a recent decision, the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia quashed an arbitrator’s decision concerning employees’ entitlement to vacation leave in the collective agreement between the Public Service Alliance of Canada (“PSAC”) and Sydney Airport Authority. At issue before the arbitrator was whether the agreement provided that employees on ‘sick leave with pay’ continued to accrue vacation credits. The arbitrator found they did not. PSAC challenged this decision and the... Read More