Ontario employers can rest easy as a result of the Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Piresferreira v. Ayotte, 2010 ONCA 384.  The appeal revisited the issue of an employer’s duty to protect an employee against mental suffering in the workplace. The Court of Appeal held that restricting an employee’s ability to hold an [...]

The Supreme Court will hear a series of seven appeals later this week to clarify a mess of case law that has grown around the juicy-sounding doctrine of collateral attack. (Coincidentally, 24 premieres this week, though I don’t expect Jack Bauer to have any involvement in this particular saga.) The fact that the Court has [...]

As the federal and provincial governments rolled out their vaccination programs for H1N1 flu last week, health ministers, doctors, and other government representatives have all been answering questions about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. There has recently been much debate about the wisdom and effectiveness of population-wide vaccination: for example, see this month’s cover story [...]

On October 1st, 2009, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its judgment in Sutts, Strosberg LLP v. Atlas Cold Storage Holdings Inc., 2009 ONCA 690. The significance of this case lies in its status as one of the few securities class actions in Canada. One counsel submitted that this “was the third largest securities class [...]

Over the past two decades, academics and judges have debated the issue of awarding damages for violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the absence of mala fides. It took the threat of a dessert ambush to get the matter to the SCC. Back in June, leave to appeal was granted for [...]

On June 12, 2009, the Alberta Court of Appeal released its much-awaited insurance cap decision in Morrow v. Zhang, 2009 ABCA 215. In 2004, the province of Alberta passed legislation, the Minor Injury Regulation, AR 123/2004 (MIR), which imposed a $4,000 cap on non-pecuniary damages for “minor injuries” as defined under the MIR. The Alberta [...]

On June 27, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada released its long awaited decision in Honda v. Keays, 2008 SCC 39. The trial and appeal decisions were controversial enough that many were expecting the Court to provide significant guidance on how to lawfully terminate employees with “invisible” disabilities. Instead, in a very unexpected decision, the [...]

“It is tragic but true that people working with the vulnerable sometimes abuse their positions and commit wrongs against the very people they are engaged to help.” In M.E. v. Sproule, 2008 CanLII 58428, Chapnik J. begins by quoting from the decision of McLachlin J. (as she was then) in Bazley v. Curry, [1999] 2 [...]

On October 23, 2008, the Supreme Court announced that it granted leave to appeal to an unusual B.C. case that, despite a recognized need for refinement, is unlikely to significantly clarify the law of fiduciary duty. Michael Z. Galambos, et al. v. Estela Perez (32586) presents a fact scenario in which the relationship between the [...]

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in Keays v. Honda Canada, 2008 SCC 39, (summarized by Solomon Lam here) was a major victory for employers everywhere. In reducing both aggravated and punitive damages to zero, the Supreme Court of Canada has effectively deemed that Honda’s conduct, while harmful, was not egregiously harmful. It is worth remembering [...]