Tag: evidence

Safety incidents: the right to remain silent versus the obligation to speak

by Deanah Shelly What if this happens at your Canadian facility: One of your employees witnesses a workplace incident. Soon, enforcement officers are on-site investigating the incident. They may be police officers, health and safety inspectors, or environmental officers. One of the investigating officers asks the employee to assist and provide a witness statement. What […]

Medical assessment gives reasonable grounds for employee surveillance

by Mikaël Maher Surveillance may be an effective way for an employer to confirm or dispel their doubts about the legitimacy of a disability claim. But when is it legally permissible in Canada? In the recent decision Centre de santé et de services sociaux de la Vallée de la Gatineau v. Martin [1], the Quebec […]

Supreme Court ruling eases the way for certain class actions

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled March 22 that the use of statistical evidence to create a class action lawsuit against Tyson Foods was proper, an action that may make it easier for employees in certain situations to band together to sue their employers rather than suing as individuals. The Court ruled 6-2 in Tyson Foods […]

Game of Thrones: Trial by combat

Winter is coming, but not soon enough for those of us eager for Season 6 of Game of Thrones.  While we wait, I’d like to rewind to one of my favorite episodes from Season 4 involving Tyrion’s trial for the murder of his nephew. As you may recall, Tyrion’s long-time rivalry with his sister, Cersei, comes to […]

Trash talk or abuse? NFL debates banning the N-word

In any other NFL offseason, with the hype over combine results all over the television and free agency in full swing, it’s likely many football fans might not notice the NFL Competition Committee meeting in the background. But this year, the committee is making news as it mulls over a controversial potential new rule that […]

Employees’ smartphones as potential sources of evidence

By Antoine Aylwin and Edith Charbonneau Your employee quits his job and returns his smartphone. It contains information that shows he was scheming against you. What can you do with this? Could you use the e-mails found in the smartphone as evidence? This question was recently ruled upon by the Quebec Superior Court in Les […]

Conspiracy theory

Potential Liability: Angela and Trevor are going to jail. Dwight too? Not even Rainn Wilson’s recent video could keep us from watching this week’s episode, “The Target,” which featured a murder-for-hire plot, a giant comment-card pyramid, and Dwight’s pixelated genitalia. Yikes, indeed. Angela has discovered that her husband, The Senator, is having an affair with Oscar. She does not react well and […]

“There is no sin except stupidity”

by Donna Brooks We confess: In these days of dry Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) lawsuits, newspaper battles over immigration laws and school calendars, and court opinions focusing on sufficiency of evidence or burdens of proof, any day that we get to write an article about “sin” is a good day. While actual “sinning” […]

Talking to older worker about retirement

Asking About Retirement: Is It Good Planning or a Legal Danger?

“Sea change,” “massive demographic revolution,” “boomer brain drain.” They are terms  economists and sociologists use when discussing the aging of the baby boomer generation – children born between 1946 to 1964. Countless volumes have been written about what will happen as the more than 78 million boomers age and leave the workforce. Despite all the […]

Blue-Pencil Correction of Noncompete Gets Red Light from Canadian Court

By Marisa Victor and Yael Wexler Noncompetition clauses in employment contracts are difficult to enforce in Canada. Courts tend to regard them as unreasonable restraints on trade. Any ambiguity usually will be fatal. Nor will the courts generally use a “blue pencil” to remove ambiguous words. This was made clear in the recent appellate decision […]