Employers may be relieved now that the Supreme Court of Canada has reversed steep punitive damages in a high-profile wrongful dismissal case involving a disabled worker. But accommodating the needs of employees who have disabilities - in particular depression - is not getting any easier, says IRC faculty member Anthony Griffin. Griffin is counsel for the Ontario Human Rights Commission, which intervened in Keays v. Honda Canada, a case that has been watched closely by Canadian employers for the past four years. (The views expressed are his and do not purport to be the views of the Commission.)(More)
In a case that pitted B.C. health unions against contentious labour legislation, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled last fall that collective bargaining is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The decision significantly changes the lives of many Canadian labour law practitioners and policy-makers, says Kevin Banks, assistant professor in Queen’s University Faculty of Law.(More)
In an examination of this case, in which the Supreme Court of Canada revised Canada's traditional approach to assessing damages fro wrongful dismissal, the author explores law and legislation governing the dismissal of employees before and after the decision. (Download)
Human rights laws have become the most dynamic force shaping the Canadian labour law system. This paper identifies some of the more important changes brought about by their growing impact and the application of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the workplace. (Download)
In a Q & A with Harry Arthurs, an eminent Professor of Labour Law from York University's Osgoode Hall, the discussion ranges from the most important forces shaping employee relations in Canada to influences on legislation and the public policy framework. (Download)
Visible minorities still face barriers that impede their success in the workforce. The most powerful force preventing them from entering the labour market and climbing the corporate ladder is systemic discrimination. This paper seeks to shed some light on the damaging effects of systemic discrimination through the eyes of visible minorities. It contends that the existence of federal employment equity legislation has improved the representation of visible minorities in the labour force. Therefore, the author proposes that similar legislation be reintroduced in Ontario in an effort to do the same. (Download)
The Labour Law Casebook Group is devoted not only to the project of a collective casebook, but to a larger scholarly and social vision of labour law. (More)
