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The 10 Biggest Hr Compliance Cases Of The Year (So Far)

One of my favorite parts of running the HRI compliance service is the cross-country sweep of court, arbitration and administrative cases that I get to do. Among the literally hundreds of cases I look at each month, only the juiciest ones make it to our jurisdiction-specific Month In Review reports. And now that we’re halfway through 2021, I figured I’d do a countdown of what I think are the most significant cases of the year. Go to the HRI site for a summary of each case.

 

10. BC court doesn’t let flight attendants bring sexual harassment class action against WestJet [Lewis v WestJet Airlines Ltd.]

9. Québec court says employer must at least consider letting employee telecommute from Hawaii [Syndicat des professeurs et professeures de l’Université Laval (SPUL) and Université Laval]

8. Alberta human rights tribunal upholds termination of employee for failing to disclose his medical marijuana use until he was drug tested [Bird v Lafarge Canada Inc.,]

7. Federal arbitrator nixes termination because positive marijuana post-incident test result didn’t prove the employee was impaired at the time of the incident [Canadian National Railway Company v United Steelworkers, Local 2004]

6. Canadian Supreme Court leaves intact a controversial ruling (Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc.) striking down a contractual termination notice limit for violating the Ontario ESA

5. Alberta high court clarifies employer’s duty to accommodate the scheduling needs of working parents [United Nurses of Alberta v Alberta Health Services]

4. BC government hit with record $176K fine for injury to dignity, feelings and self-respect [Francis v. BC Ministry of Justice (No. 5)]

3. Ontario arbitrator upholds retirement home’s right to require employees to be COVID tested [Christian Labour Association of Canada v. Caressant Care Nursing & Retirement Homes]

2. BC tribunal rules out workers comp mental stress benefits for essential workers affected by having to work during COVID [Review Reference #R0269567]

And the top HR compliance case of 2021, at least in my opinion [drumroll. . . ]

  1. Ontario court recognizes a new tort giving victims of online harassment the right to sue for money damages [Caplan v. Atas]