Two recent decisions from the Ontario Court of Appeal demonstrate that courts are moving away from assessing the severity of sexual harassment on a “spectrum,” and towards treating every incident of sexual harassment as serious.
Render v. ThyssenKrupp Elevator (Canada) Limited (2022 ONCA 310) dealt with a manager who was terminated after a single incident of ...
A recent decision of the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) held that a professor telling a subordinate employee (the “Complainant”) that “you will have to let me know if this is a misstep but I am crazy about you” (the “Comment”) did not constitute sexual harassment pursuant to the B.C. Human Rights Code.
Background Facts
The ...
Employers are increasingly concerned about preventing sexual harassment in the workplace – not only to ensure that all workers are given an equal opportunity to thrive in a safe and respectful workplace environment, but also because of concerns around vicarious liability, class actions, and PR scandals.
Based on our experience advising clients with respect to ...
The new year brings an opportunity for reflection on the past year with a view to making improvements moving forward. It is also a good time for British Columbia employers to undertake a required annual review of workplace bullying and harassment policies and procedures.
Under section 115 of the British Columbia Workers Compensation Act, employers have a general duty to ...
While ongoing discussions of harassment have mainly been situated in the human rights register (see our own series of posts on our Labour and Employment Law Blog), employers should also be aware of possible liability in the civil context. Tort law allows complainants to sue for damages for harm visited upon them by another. Traditional torts that might apply in a case of ...
A former flight attendant of WestJet, Mandalena Lewis, has commenced a class action lawsuit on behalf of a proposed class of WestJet employees, alleging that the company breached its promise to provide a harassment-free workplace.
Ms. Lewis alleges that she suffered sexual assault at the hands of a pilot who had previously engaged in similar behaviour with another flight ...
Last week, we discussed a recent Ontario case where four former employees of Soulpepper Theatre filed sexual harassment suits alleging sexual touching, groping and harassment over a period 13 years. Harassment in the workplace can take many different forms, and despite the recent Hollywood #TimesUp campaign, bullying remains a serious and persistent problem in the ...
Weinstein, #TimesUp, #MeToo, #WhyWeWearBlack. Sexual harassment in the workplace is being talked about more than ever, and the Hollywood movement has shone a particular light on how power imbalance may lead to vulnerable workers being taken advantage of in the workplace.
A recent Ontario case is a prime example. Four female former employees of Soulpepper Theatre have ...
There were two interesting developments in Ontario this month in employment and human rights law.
1. Changes to the Occupational Health and Safety Act
Bill 132 received Royal Assent. Important to our employer clients in Ontario are the amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA). Bill 132 now expands the definition of “workplace harassment” in the OHSA ...
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Lawson Lundell's Labour and Employment Law Blog provides updates on the most recent legal developments impacting the Canadian workplace and offers practical tips for employers. We cover a range of topics, including labour relations, employment law, collective bargaining, human rights, employment standards, employment equity, workers' compensation, business immigration, privacy, occupational health and safety and pensions and employee benefits.
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