Introduction  While medical scientists are busy deciding the human health impacts of regular recreational cannabis use, and governments are still working out how cannabis will be cultivated, sold and taxed, and law enforcement officials consider how cannabis use will affect driving and how road … [Read more...]

Introduction  Canada is a large country with several levels of government and different law-making authorities.  Constitutionally, Canada is a federal country, which means it is organized under two levels of government: national and provincial.  It is also jointly governed by legislatures and … [Read more...]

Introduction It is said that everyone has their own #MeToo story.  Indeed that is exactly the message #MeToo seeks to communicate.  I start this column with a story that comes to my mind in this context.  This then leads to the main point of this piece: #MeToo makes for captivating human interest … [Read more...]

Introduction Since harassment is the biggest trending topic related to the workplace, it seems opportune to highlight the harassment provisions in the new Alberta occupational health and safety ("OHS") legislation, which is known as Bill 30: An Act To Protect The Health And Well-Being Of Working … [Read more...]

Introduction We looked through the judicial and arbitral decisions and found ten more random instances of appalling employee behaviour that Canadian courts and arbitrators excused. The first five cases can be found in Part 1 of this article. In these cases, the employer fired the employee, but … [Read more...]

We scoured the judicial and arbitral decisions and found ten more random instances of egregious employee behaviour that Canadian courts and arbitrators excused. Since the judge or arbitrator found that the employers had no legal basis to find these employees, employers were hit with damages for … [Read more...]

Introduction Many readers will recall the recent Bill Cosby trial for sexual assault.  The crime was allegedly committed in 2004, the criminal charge was laid on December 30, 2015 and the trial occurred in June 2017.  It ended in a mistrial because the jury did not return a unanimous verdict.  The … [Read more...]

Introduction In Canada, employment is a legal contract.  The collective agreement in unionized workplaces represents the ultimate comprehensive contract between employer and employer.  It sets out the rights and obligations between the parties, including how employment-related disputes are to be … [Read more...]