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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

One of these things is (not) like the other

These are the words, or more accurately the lyrics (I think they may belong to a Sesame Street song sung by Big Bird about his bowls of bird seed), that came to mind when I recently had opportunity to read the case of Stephen Henshaw v. Rochester Place Resort Inc.  2014 HRTO 1727 (Can LII).

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The Young and the Restless: Soap opera lessons for real life employers in dealing with misconduct linked to mental illness and addiction

On occasion1, I tune into a longstanding television soap opera called, The Young and the Restless, as a distraction from the issues of everyday life.  Most recently however, the soap opera did not act as a distraction, but rather reminded me of the societal challenges faced by employees who suffer from mental illness.  As an

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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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You’ve been named in a workplace harassment complaint. Now what?

Lately, I have had the opportunity to assist a number of employees who have had the unfortunate displeasure of being the recipients of a harassment complaint against them; let’s call them the “Respondents” for ease of reference.  Each Respondent has expressed to me their initial reactions to the complaints. They are remarkably similar. They tell

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Record of Offences? Ha! What Record of Offences?

On August 7, 2014 the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario issued its decision in the case of Hulbert v. Cott Beverages. This was an application by Mr. Hulbert where he alleged that Cott Beverages discriminated against him contrary to the Human Rights Code (“the Code”).  Specifically he alleged that his employer discriminated against him on

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“One of these days, someone is going to knock that attitude out of you!”

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, in a decision dated September 5, 2012, found that Paul Lombardi had suffered harassment in the workplace and that his dismissal from employment due to fighting was discriminatory. The Ontario Divisional court in Walton v. Lombardi, 2013 ONSC 4218 set aside that decision. The Court ruled that there was

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Feeling charitable? There’s a workplace policy for that!

On May 2, 2014, Global News reported that the French Parliament will now allow workers to anonymously donate days off to help co-workers dealing with a seriously ill child. This news item caused me recall approximately eight years ago when, as a parent, I sat beside my then 2 year old son at Sick Kids

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Bueller?… Bueller?… Bueller?*

*Inspired by the 1986 movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off Ferris Bueller’s Day Off – the picture perfect example of why employers should require medical notes for “sick days”. On Wednesday January 8, 2014, the Globe and Mail published an article titled:  “Stop asking employees for sick notes, OMA head urges” written by Erin Anderssen. The article

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