Rubin Thomlinson | Insights, News & Articles

What does anti-Black racism in the workplace look like: Consider these three cases

June 25, 2020 | By Katharine Montpetit

Last week, my colleague Dana Campbell discussed the difference between racism and racial discrimination, and the ways in which racial discrimination can manifest in the workplace. In the spirit of her article and her quote from Clarence B. Warren – “Everything can be improved” – we review here three human rights cases where anti-black racism occurred in the workplace, what the law told us then, and considerations for how the application of some of these legal principles may evolve going forward.

Investigating harassment and violence under Bill C-65 | Part 4

June 22, 2020

The rules around investigating incidents of workplace harassment and violence will shift once Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence) comes into force. The date that the Bill will take legal effect has not been confirmed, although it is supposed to be this year.

Understanding racism and racial discrimination: Recognizing & responding to the problem in Canada

June 16, 2020 | By Dana J. Campbell-Stevens

We are living in a time when racism and racial discrimination are at the fore globally. The world is being awakened to an issue that is by no means new but has not necessarily received sufficient attention. There is now a global call for radical institutional and systemic changes which acknowledge the equality of racialized persons. While the focus is in many cases on the justice system, it is imperative that the systemic changes, if they are to be effective, must permeate to the core of every society at all levels, including the workplace.

What the media got wrong about the Sullivan decision & what workplace investigators need to know

June 10, 2020

Recently the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in R. v. Sullivan, a case involving the automatism defence. For those who don’t know, this defence can potentially be raised when an individual enters a state of impaired consciousness in which they are capable of acting but have no voluntary control over those actions¹. Through amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada in the mid-90s, the defence of automatism cannot be used for violent offences when the automatism is brought on by self-induced intoxication.

Projet de loi C-65 : Êtes-vous prêts? | Bill C-65: Are you ready?

June 18, 2020

Le projet de loi C-65 vise à renforcer les dispositions concernant le harcèlement et la violence dans les milieux de travail sous réglementation fédérale, la fonction publique fédérale et les milieux de travail parlementaires. Le projet de loi a reçu la sanction royale en octobre 2018, mais n’est pas encore en vigueur. En avril 2019, le gouvernement a également proposé un nouveau projet de règlement, qui, tout comme le projet de loi, n’est pas encore en vigueur.

The impact of perceptual variances in investigations

June 9, 2020 | By Dana J. Campbell-Stevens

I recently watched a video presentation by Kain Ramsay, teacher of applied psychology, on the topic of perceptual variances in the context of cognitive behavioural therapy. He started the presentation with a demonstration. He showed how the number “8” could be interpreted or perceived differently by multiple persons. He demonstrated that the image could be viewed by some as exactly what it is, the number 8. Others may interpret it as the infinity sign; to others it may just look like a pretzel; while to another person, it may be the symbol for DNA.

Bill C-65 and the prevention of harassment & violence | Part 2

May 14, 2020

2020 was supposed to be the year that Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence) came into force. The Bill promises to change how employers in federally-regulated industries prevent and address incidents of workplace harassment and violence. Employers have been waiting for the Bill to take legal effect for some time, but with more pressing matters on the national agenda these days, the federal government has not confirmed when this will happen.

Avoid opening Pandora’s box: Working with your external investigator before, during and after the investigation to safeguard neutrality

May 12, 2020

We have all heard of the myth of Pandora’s Box – a box containing many evils that once released into the world could not be put back. As a third-party workplace investigator, I often think of clients having a Pandora’s Box full of information that, if released, could be prejudicial and could lead to an eventual claim of bias.

A Q&A on writing workplace investigation reports

May 6, 2020 | By Liliane Gingras

I recently did a three-part webinar series on writing workplace investigation reports with my colleague, Janice Rubin. These were short half-hour sessions during which participants could submit questions to us in writing. We had clearly underestimated how much we had to say about writing investigation reports and didn’t have time to get to the questions. In this blog, I answer some of the really good questions that we received.

Case law round-up on fairness: Recent examples of getting it right…and getting it wrong in workplace investigations

May 4, 2020 | By Katharine Montpetit

Fairness is something that we talk about a lot as investigators, although we appreciate that the term can sometimes feel a bit nebulous. Here we have rounded up a couple of recent cases that put the concept into effect, and highlight the importance of ensuring a fair and unbiased investigation…

Serious insight for serious situations.