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Archive for August, 2011

Damages for a Breach of the Human Rights Code – An Overview

August 31st, 2011

If an employee has been terminated, and one reason for the termination relates to a prohibited ground of discrimination, such as ethnic origin, religion or gender, the employee would be entitled to additional compensation from the employer. The employee has the burden to establish a prima facie case of discrimination, on a balance of probabilities. If the employee is able to do so, the burden then shifts to the employer to prove, also on a balance of probabilities, that the reasons for termination were unrelated to any prohibited grounds of discrimination.

Direct evidence of discrimination is not required in order for an employee to be successful on this type of claim. The decision-maker is permitted to draw an inference that discrimination occurred based on the facts presented.

An employee who believes they have been subjected to a discriminatory termination from his or her employment has the option of commencing a claim in the civil courts or at the Human Rights Tribunal.

The Human Rights Tribunal has the authority to award a wide range of remedies to the individual whose human rights have been breached. Some of these remedies have included requiring the employer to write a letter of apology to the employee, and to require the employer to complete a session of training with a human rights lawyer.

Construction Update

August 30th, 2011

Yesterday (August 30th, 2011), our future expansion received a roof and today concrete was poured on the first floor.

Corporate Health and Wellness

August 30th, 2011

For more than 10 years, research has been showing the effectiveness of ‘Corporate Health and Wellness’ programs.

These programs are implemented to increase productivity through lower absenteeism, and increase individual employee effectiveness while at the same time decreasing costs associated with healthcare benefits/insurance schemes.

Studies have proved that these programs are cost-effective and foster healthier lifestyles for employees. Harvard Business Review: What’s the Hard Return on Employee Wellness Programs?

Health and Wellness programs consist of providing institutional and cultural support for activities that help employees achieve health-positive goals. An easily achieved zero-cost example can be the introduction of a lunch-hour walking club.

Devry Smith Frank LLP (DSF) has started its own Health and Wellness program by:

replacing high-fat, high calorie snacks like cookies, with fresh fruit, granola bars and fat-free yogurt.
partnering with a nearby fitness centre to establish a lower monthly membership fee for firm employees.
providing office space for twice weekly ‘in-house’ workout sessions for interested employees
providing an annual on-site influenza vaccine clinic
offering financial assistance to firm employees for smoking cessation aids
providing first-aid/CPR coaching

Although, DSF has done much to promote employee health and well-being, the firm continues to look for new avenues to achieve the above-stated goal. The new office space under construction will help by providing private showers/change area, a bicycle storage room and a larger multi-purpose room.

You can find more about information specifically about non-smoking programs at the following websites:

Smoke-Free Environment

Smoking can be a Drag for Law Firms

What is an Adequate Notice of Employment Termination

August 29th, 2011

There is no hard and fast rule as to what constitutes adequate notice of termination. In the absence of an employment contract dealing with termination, the courts look at employment statutes and cases to determine what is an appropriate amount of notice of termination for each individual. The courts take into consideration such things as: age, length of employment, duties, length of time it would reasonably take to find comparable employment.

On What Grounds can an Employee be Terminated?

August 24th, 2011

An employer is entitled to terminate an employee for virtually any reason so long as the employer provides adequate notice, or pay in lieu of notice, of the termination and so long as the reason for the termination is not related to the employee’s race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, record of offences, marital status, same-sex-partnership status, family status or disability. If the termination is related to one of those grounds listed, than there has been a contravention of the Ontario Human Rights Code with respect to which a claim may be made to either a Judge of the Court or an arbitrator at the Human Rights Tribunal. The Courts are empowered to make monetary awards to a wronged employee. The Tribunal is empowered to make orders both requiring monetary compensation as well as reinstatement of employment.

Once I have separated, do I have to go to court?

August 23rd, 2011

There are various paths you can take that do not involve going to court:

1. I recommend retaining a lawyer who practices exclusively in the area of family law. This lawyer will be more proficient with the provincial and federal family laws to negotiate a separation agreement for you in a manner that is both cost and time efficient.

2. Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may also participate in the collaborative law process. Most of the lawyers in the family law department have been trained as collaborative family law lawyers. The collaborative law process involves a written commitment to resolve your family law issues through a series of meetings between lawyers and parties and most importantly, involves a commitment to not go to court.

3. Once you and your partner have each retained separate lawyers and financial disclosure has been exchanged, negotiations regarding support, property, custody, access and other more complicated family law issues can take place.

4. Often negotiations take place through four-way meetings with the parties and their lawyers.

5. If negotiations break down, parties can enter into a mediation/arbitration agreement. This involves signing a contract to participate in mediation with an independent and neutral third party, who is often a senior family law lawyer and proficient in all areas of family law. Mediations can resolve issues in as little as half a day or can be continued over weeks.

6. Should mediation fail, the mediation/arbitration agreement will bind you to then participate in the arbitration process, usually with the mediator who then switches hats and becomes the arbitrator. Arbitrations are conducted the same way a trial is conducted and the award provided by the arbitrator is as binding as an order made by a judge at the conclusion of a trial. The benefit of proceeding by way of mediation/arbitration is that most files are resolved at the mediation stage and those that are not are often resolved much quicker in arbitration than trial.

7. The last way to resolve your family law dispute is through the court system. Before you are entitled to have your case heard at a trial, however, there are a series of steps you must participate in first. These steps include one or more case conferences, settlement conferences and trial management conferences. In addition, motions for temporary orders may be heard throughout the process. Because of the numerous steps involved before a case is heard at a trial, most cases do end up settling before they get to trial.

In summary, there are many alternate dispute resolution mechanisms that are available to you once you separate that do not involve going to court. I encourage you to speak with one of the family law lawyers at Devry Smith Frank to determine which route is best for you and your particular needs.

DSF under Construction (Literally)

August 23rd, 2011

If you haven’t visited us yet or in awhile, we are under construction. A new addition is being added to the front of our building. DSF has chosen to take all the space in this new space.

At the same time we are re-configuring some of our existing space to better suit our larger presence. Along with a greater number of offices and workstations, we will have a new reception area, more boardrooms, a multi-purpose training/meeting space, library, showers, lockers and private washrooms.

Construction is still in early stages, we hope everything will be complete early in the New Year.

Here are some pictures of how it looked before and what’s happening now:

DSF’s New Blog

August 17th, 2011

Hello and Welcome!

Devry Smith Frank is starting a new journey online by creating this blog. Here you will find topics related to the law, the goings-on of our firm and much more.

We sincerely hope that it entertains as it does inform. If you have any questions about anything, please contact us!

You can always reach us at 416.449.1400 or info@devrylaw.ca Each post will include the contact details of the poster, if you wish to communicate with him/her directly.

Come back here often as we plan to have new entries all the time.

Devry Smith Frank LLP
Lawyers & Mediators