Court sets aside release signed by employee after employment terminated on basis it was unconscionable
Rubin v. Home Depot Canada Inc., 2012 ONSC 3053
A case summary by Landon Young & Jeremy Schwartz, at the firm of Stringer, can be found here: "Court Strikes Down Release Signed on Termination of Employment".
Gender bias in severance settlements, says UVIC professor Dr. Ken Thornicroft
Ken Thornicroft is a well known labour and employment law academic and adjudicator in BC.
He is currently a professor at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business and a member of the BC Employment Standards Tribunal.
Recently he has been studying the issue of gender bias in negotiated and wrongful dismissal severance awards, and presented a paper that touched on this topic at the CLEBC Employment Law Conference in 2011. That paper can be found here: "Appellate Review of "Reasonable Notice" Awards in Canada: 2000-2010".
On June 4, 2012, UVIC issued this news release concerning his research:
Gender Bias In Severance Settlements read more »
Alberta Privacy Commissioner will seek leave to appeal in case where ABCA found PIPA breached Charter
The Alberta Information and Privacy Commissioner's office issued the following news release yesterday, concerning the Alberta Court of Appeal's decision in United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v. Alberta (Attorney General), 2012 ABCA 130, which found the Alberta privacy sector privacy legislation, PIPA, to be unconstitutional:
Information and Privacy Commissioner Jill Clayton will apply to the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal the recent decision of the Alberta Court of Appeal in United
Food and Commercial Workers, Local 401 v. Alberta (Attorney General), 2012 ABCA 130. read more »
Ontario court urges "business transaction" exemption be added to PIPEDA, grants order for disclosure
In the Matter of an Application Under Rules 14.05(3)(d), 2012 ONSC 2530, a decision issued on April 26, 2012, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice granted an order allowing the vendor financial institution to disclose personal information to the purchaser, pursuant to an asset purchase transaction.
In doing so, the court urged, effectively, for the implementation of "business transaction" provisions such as those found in the BC and Alberta PIPAs, stating:
It is evident from this long list of cases that Farley J. was prescient in suggesting that "this type of situation should be addressed to avoid unnecessary court applications." I join Farley J. in urging that a route be provided that will permit the disclosure of the necessary personal information in such circumstances as these to avoid wasting the court's time and the parties' funds (at para. 12). read more »
FortisBC applies to BC Labour Relations Board to have certain work functions designated as essential
FortisBC has filed an application to have certain work functions designated as essential services under the BC Labour Relations Code.
This is the second BC utility to file such an application in the last few months. Back in April 2012, the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia ("ICBC") - the province's "basic insurance" vehicle insurer - also filed an essential services application. More information about that application, including the application itself, can be found on COPE 378's website here.
FortisBC's May 31, 2012 news release states as follows: read more »
Second social media report issued by US National Labour Relations Board's Acting General Counsel
Back in January 2012, the US National Labour Relations Board Acting General Counsel released a second report describing 14 social media cases reviewed by his office.
Here's the entire news release, with a link to the report (and the one that preceded it):
To help provide further guidance to practitioners and human resource professionals, NLRB Acting General Counsel Lafe Solomon has released a second report describing social media cases reviewed by his office.
The Operations Management Memo covers 14 cases, half of which involve questions about employer social media policies. Five of those policies were found to be unlawfully broad, one was lawful, and one was found to be lawful after it was revised. read more »
New union discussions by Communications, Energy and Paperworkers, Canadian Auto Workers reach milestone
Here is a news release issued yesterday (May 24, 2012) by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union (CEP) and the Canadian Auto Workers Union (CAW) concerning their efforts to join forces and create a new national union in Canada:
The joint CEP/CAW Proposal Committee has reached an important milestone in creating a new national union, coming to a consensus on a possible structure for the organization featuring a strong regional presence.
The Proposal Committee was established by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union and the Canadian Auto Workers union to develop a plan for a new national union, which would be the largest private sector union in Canada representing more than 300,000 members.
Following four days of meetings last week in Toronto the Proposal Committee, made up of eight representatives from each union, reached consensus on a plan that establishes a "robust regional presence" and outlines how the new union could be run. read more »
