Calendar of Events

Allegations of harassment in the workplace are on the rise. Jamie will review several recent cases involving allegations of harassment in the workplace. He will provide an overview of what conduct constitutes harassment, the appropriate employer response and practical examples of what steps employers should take.

Join us for our annual legal update with Lucie LaBoissonnière and Dominique Fontaine from McInnes Cooper. This year, we will be doing a half-day session on off-duty conduct, privacy in the workplace and the enforcement of termination clauses and confidentiality agreements. Every employer in Canada has heard of Shawn Simoes, the Hydro One employee who was terminated for cause after publicly harassing an on-air reporter. Hydro One acted quickly and - most employers would agree - made an estimable decision. Since Mr. Simoes’s termination made headlines across Canada, terminations for “off-duty conduct” have been in the spotlight. Can employers manage employees outside of the workplace? What factors will courts consider to determine whether off-duty conduct justifies a termination for cause or other discipline? Is reputational damage a necessary factor? Can an employee who is seen on Facebook using recreational marijuana be terminated for cause? Privacy in the workplace remains an evolving area of employment law. Employees expect to have some privacy at work while employers must know what their employees are doing while at work. It can be challenging to know where to draw the line, for instance, with GPS devices on company-owned vehicles used by employees and other methods of conducting surveillance on employees in the workplace or on their work phones. Finally, recent case law on the enforcement of termination clauses and confidentiality agreements will be discussed. We will address the enforceability of termination clauses as well as an employer’s available remedies in the case of an employee’s breach of a confidentiality agreement. This session will provide insight to employers as to their rights and obligations in regards to these emerging topics.

The presentation will outline basic principles of disability case management. Discussion will also take place about how both the employee’s and the employer’s interest are represented in the process. Adjudication of a Short Term Disability benefit application for a 'Stress Claim' will be used as an example.