A recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision illustrates the importance of carefully scrutinizing all provisions in an employment agreement to ensure that they comply with the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (the ESA) as a whole. In Waksdale v. Swegon North America Inc., 2020 ONCA 391, the Ontario Court of Appeal…

With much of Ontario continuing to reopen, many organizations have begun considering their mitigation strategies to protect both the organization and its employees from liability arising from the transmission of COVID-19. One common mitigation strategy at the forefront is the use of waivers of liability. Interestingly, many jurisdictions have begun…

Kelly Santini was successful in the recent decision of S.S. v Allstate, 2020 ONLAT 19-005491/AABS. S.S. was involved in a motor vehicle accident on August 22, 2014 and sought benefits pursuant to the SABS.  In June 2019, S.S. brought a Licence Appeal Tribunal (LAT) application for a declaration that his…

As of March 17th, 2020, the operations of the Ontario Superior Court have been suspended indefinitely.  However, the court expects that procedural timelines will still be met and that documents will continue to be produced and that cases will proceed through virtual means to complete examinations for discovery, mediations, pre-trials,…

In this live presentation, employment lawyer JP Zubec and moderator Mark Sutcliffe answered business owners many employment law questions as they navigate the challenge of re-opening and running their business through the pandemic. Legal issues that covered included: What steps do employers need to take before re-opening? Can an employer pick…

The Ontario Court of Appeal’s recent decision in Markham (City) v. AIG Insurance Company of Canada, 2020 ONCA 239 clarified the scope of an insurer’s duty to defend where more than one insurance policy is triggered by a loss. In such cases, insurers may have a concurrent duty to defend…

As the fallout from the COVID-19 virus hits the bottom line, businesses will be looking to see what losses may be covered through their insurance policies. In this post, we answer the most common questions our insurance group receives about business insurance and the losses that are typically covered by…

Kelly Santini LLP and Welch Capital Partners have prepared a template employee loan agreement that business owners can use in the event they are providing loans to employees. Please reach out to Kelly Santini’s JP Zubec (jpzubec@kellysantini.com) or Stephan May of Welch Capital Partners (smay@welchcapitalpartners.com) should you have any questions on the…