In recent years, there has been a growing incidence of legal disputes involving inadequate workplace investigations. While these disputes often involve an employer’s failure to comply with prescribed statutory duties (e.g. as per the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Ontario Human Rights Code, etc.), courts have equally demonstrated an increased willingness to impose upon
With Bill 132 set to come into effect on September 8, 2016, and January 2017 for universities and colleges, there is a great deal of work that organizations are required to do, including drafting policies, establishing investigation procedures, and training staff. Given the usual complexities of investigating sexual violence, one of the central areas of
We hope that most employers are familiar with their substantive obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “OHRC”). However, I have found that employers can overlook a “hidden” provision in the OHRC which imposes liability on them not only for the discriminatory actions of their controlling minds and/or senior employees, but also for those
Starting our own business gave us the opportunity to create the kind of place where we wanted to work – the kind of working environment that would have us excited about heading to work each Monday, as opposed to lying awake on Sunday night dreading the start of another work week. I am truly grateful
Recently, it seems like all anyone wants to talk about when it comes to transgender inclusivity is bathrooms. Questions about bathrooms dominate recent dialogues and workshops of which I’ve been a part. The US media can’t stop talking about their politicians talking about bathrooms. Large companies like Target are taking positions, leading to praise from
From time to time, we are retained to redo a workplace investigation that an employer has already done. The prompts for our work on these occasions are different. Sometimes, on review of the report (or in the case where none is produced) the employer itself knows there is a problem with the process or the
It’s not entirely surprising that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (the OHRT) rendered a decision recently, holding that a miscarriage constitutes a “disability” for human rights purposes. What is perhaps less clear is what this will mean for employers. Winnie Mou brought a human rights application against her former employer, MHPM Project Leaders, alleging discrimination
I had the opportunity to participate recently in a discussion on managerial action/inaction in relation to harassment complaints. One of the participants commented that it was hard to believe, but true, that there were still managers in her workplace who did not take action of any sort after an employee had reported concerns of harassment
Recently, the Ontario Human Rights Commission released its Policy on preventing discrimination based on creed, updating their previous creed-related policy from 1996. Like other recent Commission policies on topics such as gender identity/expression and family status, the Policy provides clarity on the definition of the ground, while also providing guidance for employers on specific situations
In the modern business world, employers are required to stay current and adapt to ever-changing legal and economic demands. As part of the survival process, employers are often tasked with updating work-related documents. However, there are legal repercussions associated with unilateral amendments to pre-existing employment contracts and policies which employers must be cognizant of. The
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