Don’t Get Deflated: Four Things Employers Can Learn From The Tom Brady “Deflategate” Ruling

On Thursday, September 3, 2015, a federal judge overturned the NFL’s four-game suspension imposed on star quarterback Tom Brady, ruling that the league couldn’t discipline him for allegedly deflating footballs in order to make them easier to throw.  Employers can learn a few valuable lessons from this decision, right in time for the new football season about to kick off.
Background
First, a quick background.  During the January 2015 AFC Championship game between the Indianapolis Colts […]

By | September 16th, 2015 ||

Superintendent Allegedly Fired For Reporting Workplace Violence

The Ontario Labour Relations Board has ordered an employer to reinstate an apartment building “office administrative superintendent” who alleged that she was fired after reporting that her husband, the maintenance superintendent at the same building, threatened their daughter and was about to hit her.  They resided in an apartment in the building.

Importantly, the employer did not file a Response to the employee’s OLRB Application, meaning that the OLRB’s decision was of a “default nature”.

The […]

By | September 14th, 2015 ||

Canada: A Reckless Disregard For Safety Is Cause For Termination

A recent Ontario arbitration decision has illustrated that a serious workplace safety incident can lead to termination. While the appropriateness of discipline will always turn on the specific circumstances, the case of Sudbury Integrated Nickel Operations v. Sudbury Mine, Mill & Smelter Workers’ Union Unifor, Local 598, [2015] CanLII 32018 provides a useful example of when termination is justified following a workplace accident.

In this instance a mining trolley became derailed from its’ tracks […]

By | September 14th, 2015 ||