Lancaster House

Lancaster House will no longer be posting on X moving forward. We will be moving our latest news, programming announcements and legal commentary to our LinkedIn Company Page. Follow us @ linkedin.com/company/lancas… We thank you for following us. Lancaster House.

We at Lancaster House are saddened by the passing of the Honourable Murray Sinclair. In tribute to his legacy, we share this audio recording of his 2016 webinar on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission which he chaired: lancasterhouse.com/conferenceArch…

BC Human Rights Tribunal awards damages for lost income ($36,812) and injury to dignity ($15,000) to complainant for discrimination in recruitment process, based on stereotyped questions and comments related to indigenous ancestry and gender canlii.org/en/bc/bchrt/do…

Temporary foreign workers’ class action against the federal government, alleging that “closed” work permit system tying workers to a specific employer violates the Charter, can proceed to trial, Quebec court rules canlii.org/en/qc/qccs/doc…

Recipients of the Bora Laskin Award recognizing outstanding contributions to Canadian labour law announced for 2024 by U of T- management counsel Brian Burkett & union counsel Rick Engel. Congratulations! Brian Burkett: tinyurl.com/yzrfvyba Rick Engel: tinyurl.com/mrxvn8r2

Recipients of the Bora Laskin Award recognizing outstanding contributions to Canadian labour law announced for 2024 by U of T - management counsel Brian Burkett and union counsel Rick Engel. Congratulations!

Canadian railway workers ordered to return to work, following federal labour board ruling finding it has no authority to review or refuse to implement Minister’s directions halting strike and imposing binding interest arbitration; union vows to appeal lancasterhouse.com/pdf/documents/…

Quebec Labour Tribunal orders Amazon distribution centre to pay Montreal Amazon Workers Union $30,000 in damages ($10,000 moral damages & $20,000 punitive damages) for interference with union organizing campaign, including anti-union messages to employees t.ly/OOxlO

BC Human Rights Tribunal awards its second highest “injury to dignity” award of $100,000 to employee subjected to physical and sexual assaults and sexual harassment by company owner, causing her to suffer from PTSD, panic attacks and a drug overdose canlii.org/en/bc/bchrt/do…

Investigation into alleged workplace harassment and violence breached rules of fairness, Federal Court holds, since complainant not given an opportunity to respond to statements by other employees or investigator’s preliminary report canlii.ca/t/k4f3r

Employee denied permission to work from home so that she could care for ailing mother, then fired – employer engaged in family status discrimination and retaliation, Ontario Human Rights Tribunal rules canlii.ca/t/k5dht

Ontario teachers protected by Charter of Rights from “unreasonable search and seizure” of their information on school computers, Supreme Court of Canada rules canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/…

Ontario Court of Appeal declares Act eliminating transit workers’ right to strike in violation of Charter of Rights s. 2(d) guarantee of freedom of association canlii.org/en/on/onca/doc…

Where job duties included wearing a self-contained breathing apparatus in emergencies, the employer was not obliged to exempt a worker who grew a beard for medical reasons from a policy requiring that employees be clean-shaven, arbitrator rules canlii.ca/t/k44cf

Arbitrator awards $7,500 for privacy breach following post-incident demand for drug and alcohol test; er’s attendance at hospital to request testing was reasonable, but later attendance at ee’s home was unreasonable, and violated ee's right to privacy canlii.org/en/ab/abgaa/do…

Legislative exclusion in Quebec of first-level managers from collective bargaining does not “substantially interfere” with freedom of association under s.2(d) of the Charter of Rights, Supreme Court of Canada holds, scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-cs…

Alberta Human Rights Tribunal awards highest-ever general damages against company owner for gender-based discrimination and harassment (including sexual touching, sexual comments and retaliation) to 3 female employees ($125K, $55K, and $50K, respectively). canlii.ca/t/k3cjt

After 5 years, Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), completes first investigation report into human rights abuses by Canadian companies operating abroad, finding mining company Dynasty Gold used Uyghur forced labour at mine in China core-ombuds.canada.ca/core_ombuds-oc…

Quashing arbitrator’s decision to reinstate five employees dismissed for sexual harassment, Court holds that employers are required to investigate incidents, even in the absence of a formal complaint by the victim canlii.org/en/on/onscdc/d…

Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, which aims to combat modern slavery by imposing reporting obligations on federal private sector businesses and federal government institutions, requires first report by May 31, 2024 publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm…