Tag: Sara Parchello

A Shaved Head and Microwave Food Policy — Human Rights Violations?

By Sara Parchello, Partner, Bennett Jones Feb 28, 2011 Northern Exposure

Updated: Feb 28, 2011

By Sara Parchello It’s amazing the issues that pop up in front of human rights tribunals across Canada. Recently, the Manitoba Human Rights Commission was asked whether it is discriminatory to fire an employee for shaving her head. On an equally interesting level, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal was asked whether it is discriminatory to […]

Canadian Court Not Prepared to Act as Workplace Referee

By Sara Parchello, Partner, Bennett Jones Jun 28, 2010 Northern Exposure

Updated: Jun 28, 2010

By Sara Parchello Does an employer have a broad obligation to protect employees from mental distress that may be caused in the workplace? Ontario’s Court of Appeal recently answered this question in Piresferreira v. Ayotte and Bell Mobility Inc. with a resounding “no.” The decision reverses, in part, an award made back in 2008 – […]

Overtime Class Action Claims: The Second Wave?

By Sara Parchello, Partner, Bennett Jones Mar 15, 2010 Northern Exposure

Updated: Mar 15, 2010

By Sara Parchello Overtime class actions in Canada aren’t dead. If you thought that last year’s court decision refusing to certify the class action against one of Canada’s largest banks, CIBC, meant the death of such lawsuits in Canada, think again. These lawsuits — in which one or several employees act as a “representative plaintiff” […]