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This decision has been anticipated for quite some time. Although the Ontario Human Rights Code (Code) was amended to remove the upper limit on age discrimination and prohibit mandatory retirement in 2006, discrimination in connection with benefit and pension plans based on age continued to be permitted by the Code and the Benefits Regulation under the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). These distinctions were rationalized based on advice from insurers and independent studies that pension and benefits plans would suffer because of the costs increases expected to be associated with providing coverage for older workers.

In Lancia v. Park Dentistry, 2018 ONSC 751, the Ontario Superior Court found that an employee who resigned after her employer provided 18 months’ notice of changes to certain terms of her employment and a signing bonus had not been constructively dismissed.

The Ontario Labour Board has found that Canada Bread’s drivers, who were principals of franchisee corporations that contracted with Canada Bread for the right to deliver products along designated routes, are dependent contractors and capable of being certified into bargaining units.

As Canadian employers and U.S. employers with Canadian subsidiaries well know, the climate in Canada has never been favourable to drug and alcohol testing.  Earlier this month, however, the Supreme Court of Canada endorsed an employer’s decision to terminate the employment of an employee who, post-accident, tested positive for drugs – even after he disclosed that he thought he was addicted to cocaine.  The case is Stewart v. Elk Valley Coal Corp., 2017 SCC 30.

Ontario is raising the general minimum wage from $11.25 to $11.40 on October 1, 2016.  This is the third consecutive year it has increased.
 

In the fall of 2014, Justice Lemon of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decided that a private school had wrongfully dismissed a teacher who had committed academic fraud by submitting grades he knew to be inaccurate and then lied about it when confronted.  The decision seemed all the more egregious as, in addition to awarding the teacher 12 months’ salary and benefits, the Court also found the teacher became disabled following the termination of his employment and was entitled to disability benefits in addition to $130,000 of legal costs awarded on a substantial indemnity basis. 

As employers have discovered in recent years, although termination clauses are a best practice, former employees will do whatever they can to set them aside following termination.  In many cases, courts have set termination clauses aside, despite the apparent intent of the parties, where they are not drafted perfectly.  A recent case, Wood v. Fred Deeley Imports Ltd., 2016 ONSC 1412 suggests that the very high standard imposed on employers may have lessened somewhat.