Workers' Compensation Archives

Employee who is harassed, slapped in the face, and then fired for cause gets $200,000 in damages

April 29, 2019 | By Janice Rubin

Sometimes, when I tell people that I conduct workplace investigations for a living, I am met with surprise. “There is a need for that?” they ask, often adding their view that harassment is a thing of the past. When I explain that it is not only harassment that is a problem in Canadian workplaces, but also violence, I am often met with complete disbelief.

Five strategies for reducing workers’ compensation costs in Ontario

July 20, 2015

In my experience, many employers struggle to navigate the complex policies and procedures of Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“WSIB”), and sometimes miss opportunities to achieve cost-savings and improve efficiencies in claims management. With a view to assisting Ontario employers in reducing their workers’ compensation claims costs, I offer the following five strategies: Join

Want to fight? Health and safety coordinator assaults co-worker and creates workers’ compensation liability for employer

March 11, 2015

Although there are many acceptable ways to resolve workplace conflict, assaulting a co-worker is not one of them. However, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (the WSIAT, or the Tribunal) was faced with exactly that “conflict resolution strategy” in the recent matter of Decision No. 2140/14. In that case, the injured worker had

Mental stress provisions of Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, declared unconstitutional by WSIAT

May 30, 2014

In a landmark decision that could have a significant impact on employers, the Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (“WSIAT”, or the “Tribunal”) recently declared sections 13(4) and (5) of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 – which preclude entitlement to WSIB benefits for chronic mental stress – to be unconstitutional. That decision,

Recent amendment to Alberta’s Workers’ Compensation Act creates rebuttable presumption for PTSD claims of emergency service workers

February 28, 2013

A recent “hot topic” in occupational health and safety circles has been psychological health and safety in the workplace. From the workplace violence and harassment provisions that have been added to occupational health and safety legislation across the country, to the introduction of the Canadian Standards Association’s guideline Z1003 (Psychological health and safety in the

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