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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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Trust and loyalty never go out of fashion – Court makes finding of cause against senior employee

Alleging cause against an employee is the most severe punishment an employer can impose. It means no severance, no reference and no Employment Insurance Benefits for the employee. Being accused of wrongdoing can have far reaching consequences for an employee. As a result, employers bear the burden of proving cause, which can be difficult and

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Workplace conflict or harassment: Nova Scotia arbitrator weighs in

Does piling boxes on a co-worker’s desk during a move constitute harassment? Does having your vehicle towed by your employer after you deliberately parked behind other vehicles, blocking them in, amount to intimidation? Does the employer have the right to change employee working hours to that of the posted hours of operation and in response

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TIFF: Life imitating art?

I was lucky enough to be invited to attend a TIFF Premiere this past weekend for the film “Welcome to Me”.  In case you’re not familiar with the film, it tells the story of a woman, Alice, who suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder and wins $86 million in the lottery. The film focuses on the

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Car company’s classic case of constructive dismissal

For an employee to successfully argue that she has been constructively dismissed is an uphill battle. The onus is on her to show that a fundamental term of the contract of employment has been breached, she has not condoned that breach, and in walking out the door, she has not failed to mitigate her damages.

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Courier’s questionable workplace investigation may nullify release

A recent decision of the Superior Court of Justice, O’Reilly v Purolator Courier Ltd, 2014 ONSC 3266 (CanLII), suggests that questions regarding how a workplace investigation was conducted may mean that a release signed in favour of the employer may not be enforceable. The facts of the case are straightforward. In 2007, two female Purolator

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Nova Scotia workplace investigation myths debunked

As I have begun my workplace investigation practice in Nova Scotia in the last few months, I have encountered some commonly held misconceptions among the employers I’ve spoken with about workplace investigations. These “myths” impact how an employer decides to handle, or more commonly ignore, human rights complaints in the workplace, often to the detriment

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I thought training was supposed to fix this

Two years ago, I attended a Compliance and Ethics Academy in Chicago and was certified as a Compliance and Ethics Professional. Since then, I regularly review publications and articles about compliance systems throughout North America and am often struck by the consistent manner in which training requirements and initiatives impact workplaces when they are included

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Occupational health & safety lessons from the tragedy at Lac-Megantic: Transportation Safety Board releases its report and condemns “weak safety culture”

In the early hours of July 13, 2013, a runaway freight-train operated by Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway (“MM&A”) and carrying more than 70 tanker-cars loaded with crude oil derailed in Lac-Megantic, Quebec. The resulting explosion and fire claimed 47 lives, and destroyed a large part of the town’s downtown area. In the aftermath of

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