Southside Muay Thai Academy Corp. v Aviva Insurance Company of Canada, 2020 ONCA 385 In a sequence of events which is unfortunately no longer unfamiliar, an instructor in a position of authority sexually assaulted a minor who was, at the time of the assault, a student. The instructor was convicted….
News & Resources
As if COVID Wasn’t Bad Enough, Now We Have Zombies
Just in time for Halloween. A zombie deed is a document which is signed during a property owner’s lifetime but registered on title after the owner dies. In modern legal terminology, this should be referred to by the less catchy name of “zombie acknowledgment and direction”. In a relatively recent…
Canadian Legislation of Cannabis and Its Impact on Insurance Law
Canada will soon mark the second anniversary of the legalization of recreational cannabis. In this video for the USLAW Network virtual conference, Kelly Santini’s Jennifer Therrien shares some of the lessons learned about the impact of legal cannabis on insurers in Canada and how US and and international insurers can…
Businesses and Organizations Take Notice! New Mandatory Requirement to apply COVID-19 Screening for Workers and Essential Visitors
Recently, the Ontario Government amended Ontario Regulation 364/20 under the Reopening Ontario (A Response to COVID-19) Act, 2020. Among other things, the amendments require businesses and organizations to comply with any advice, recommendations and instructions issued by the Ministry of Health on screening for COVID-19, including the use of a…
Pat Santini Appointed Chair of American College of Trial Lawyers, Ontario Province Committee
Congratulations to Pat Santini on his recent appointment as Chair of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Ontario Province Committee. The American College of Trial Lawyers is an invitation only fellowship of exceptional trial lawyers of diverse backgrounds from the United States and Canada. The College, and its Provincial Committees,…
Breaking Employment Law Update: Ontario’s Temporary Layoff Rules Extended until January 2, 2021.
On September 3, 2020, the Ontario government announced further amendments to extend the maximum periods of temporary layoffs to January 2, 2021, before they could be deemed to be terminations under the Employment Standards Act, 2000. As you were likely already aware, September 4th was the date on which employers…
Employees on Lay Off Due to COVID-19 Set to Return to Work September 4, 2020
On July 24, 2020, Ontario revoked the emergency order that suspended the temporary lay off clock and deemed employees to be on infectious disease emergency leave (see Ontario Regulation 228/20). This means that for employees who saw wages or hours reduced due to the pandemic, the regular rules for temporary…
Ontario Court of Appeal Decision Leaves Employers with Potentially Unenforceable Termination Clauses
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…