Bill 168 Changes the Assessment of Workplace Violence
In a recent arbitration decision upholding a termination, an arbitrator held that Bill 168, which amended the Occupational Health and Safety Act, revises the assessment of workplace violence. The grievor was terminated for a threat made to her union representative...
New Tort of Invasion of Privacy
On January 20, 2012 the Ontario Court of Appeal released a unanimous decision creating the tort of invasion of privacy in Ontario. The Court of Appeal is apparently the first appellate court in Canada to definitively establish a common law...
Board Ordered to Pay a Proportional Share of Teacher’s Hearing Aid
Modification of the work and the workplace found not to be enough in meeting the duty to accommodate a disability. When the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board refused to pay for a digital hearing aid for a severely hearing impaired...
Accommodation Must be Adequate Not Ideal
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario has continued to clarify its role with respect to students with special needs. In this case, the Applicant, through his mother as litigation guardian, alleged that he was not sufficiently accommodated when attending an...
Student Witnesses Might be Necessary to Prove Case
In a recent arbitral decision involving the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board and Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association, the sufficiency of evidence was considered by an arbitrator when evaluating the discipline imposed on a teacher. The...
When is a Record Collected and Used? Case Note: Privacy Complaint No. MC08-91 and MC08-92, City of Vaughn
A couple of residents of the City of Vaughn, with a robust history of unsolicited contact with City staff and elected representatives, recently made a claim that when the City sent their correspondence to legal counsel for an opinion on...
Harassment is an Objective Test & Arbitrator Making Findings Necessary
The Divisional Court recently set aside the decision of arbitrator David Starkman with respect to the dismissal of a teacher from the Thames Valley District School Board. In its decision, the Divisional Court confirmed that harassment should be evaluated not...
Different Criteria for Retired Teachers Not Discrimination
A recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario found that the Thames Valley District School Board did not discriminate against a retired teacher, who sought to be added to the occasional teaching list, when it created different criteria...
HRTO Expanding Scope in Education Applications?
A recent interim decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario raises a question about the scope of the Human Rights Code’s application to publicly funded school boards. The Tribunal held that it would hear an Application made by a...
Giftedness Considered by HRTO for Accommodation
In this decision, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario seems to have expanded its scope for considering allegations of discrimination. The matter before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario was whether the Applicant, a student of the Ottawa Catholic District...
