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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

Insights

Reflections and news direct from Rubin Thomlinson.
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More on childcare: When saying no is not discriminatory

I recently blogged about a case (Clark v. Bow Valley College 2014 AHRC 4) in which an employer was found by the Human Rights Tribunals of Alberta to have discriminated against an employee on the basis of her family status.  The Tribunal concluded that the College had not accommodated the employee when she asked for her

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Calgary college fails to accommodate employee’s childcare needs: Tribunal orders substantial damages for human rights breach

A recent case from the Human Rights Tribunals of Alberta is an example of how childcare is quickly becoming a hot human rights issue in the post Canada (Attorney General) v. Johnstone [1] workplace. Readers will recall that in Johnstone, the Federal Court of Appeal articulated a four part test for prima facie discrimination in family

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Conducting workplace investigations on the road

Occasionally I am asked to conduct investigations in remote parts of the country. Through discussions with the client, it is typically agreed that I will travel to one of their regional offices in order to conduct a number of the interviews in person. As I will only be making one trip, it is always important

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Is health and safety “competence” required for promotion in your organization? If not, it should be!

When evaluating employees for promotion, or when hiring for supervisory positions, employers typically give careful consideration to candidates’ qualifications to perform the substantive elements of the role – i.e. educational background, work experience, personal achievements and the like. That said, one factor that is often overlooked is the candidate’s knowledge of and familiarity with (i)

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Depression + Dismissal = Damages: Lessons learned the hard way on how to handle mental illness accommodation in the workplace

Mental illness can be a taboo subject that employers shy away from discussing. Mental Illness accommodation often makes employers cringe because they either do not recognize a need to accommodate or do not know how to engage in appropriate and necessary accommodation. In the recent Northwest Territories case of Thorson v. The Government of the

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The Ray Rice scandal and off-duty misconduct: When does off-duty mean off-limits?

As an employment lawyer, I thought I’d heard it all when it comes to employees (allegedly) behaving badly. However, in the last month, the news has simmered with stories about employees (and quasi-employees, like NFL players) behaving in ways that shock even the most seasoned employment lawyer. Beyond the personal shock that we have all

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“F**k it – I quit!”: Perils of the YouTube-worthy resignation

Earlier this week, Charlo Greene, a reporter for KTVA News in Anchorage, Alaska, issued a dramatic “live-to-air” resignation that no doubt stunned viewers and her in-studio colleagues alike. Following a pre-taped report on the Alaska Cannabis Club (which, according to its Facebook page, “is a medical marijuana collective organized to serve patients throughout Alaska”), Ms.

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Emails do not create a fixed-term contract

With the increasing use of email during the recruitment process, it is possible that certain terms of an employment relationship will be first discussed, if not finalized, over email before they are ever (ideally!) put into an employment contract. So, can the items discussed over email constitute terms of employment if they do not make

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