The see- saw continues on the issue of whether a lay-off during Covid constitutes a constructive dismissal. The first Ontario Superior Court trial level decision came out a few months ago and said that the recent amendments to the Employment…
Many cases involving construction disputes end up in the Small Claims Court. The appeals from that court go to the Divisional Court, which is one or more Superior Court trial judges, sitting as an appeal court on questions of law.…
Although lay-offs are permitted and regulated under the Employment Standards Act of Ontario, they have been historically considered a constructive dismissal at common law. One of my cases from 1996, McHugh v Fitness Canada Health Spa helped establish that line…
A very recent Ontario case considered the effect of the changes to the Employment Standards Act brought about by Covid. The court ruled that these changes meant that a business would not be in trouble with the Ministry for commencing…
One thing I love about being a litigation lawyer, even a somewhat old and specialized one like me, is that there is always something new in the case law that can greatly impact Superior Court wrongful or constructive dismissal litigation.…
Normally, courts and law generally, are about 10 years behind the times. Not so with Covid 19. There is a stated and an unstated reason why courts are considering the realities of Covid 19 in sentencing decisions. The stated reason…
The Covid 19 crisis has brought out the best in the legal profession. I have seen some small town high tech firms offer their help to their cross town rivals in closing real estate deals. I have seen criminal lawyers…
As society changes, courts struggle to adapt. Trial courts (through the advocacy efforts of counsel) will sometimes create a new tort in their written decision in a civil litigation case. Usually they will do that in conjunction with their decision…
This interesting case has failed to lead to any learned legal articles in the trade papers that I have seen and I must say; I am shocked. The background to the case is that a wife thought her husband…
I would like to comment on an interesting recent Ontario case involving the intersection of 3 areas of law: Employment law Defamation law Public policy/procedural law The case is Joshi v Allstate Insurance. Ms. Joshi sued Allstate…