Author Archive - Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers

Matt Lalande is a Hamilton lawyer and founder of Lalande & Company Lawyers. Lalande & Company is a Hamilton law firm that specializes in representing victims who have suffered life changing injuries, claimants denied long term disability, families of wrongful death victims and employment law litigation. Read more

A primer total disability and psychiatric conditions

February 28, 2018 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employee Relations, Health and Safety, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Wages and Compensation

Generally speaking, claim liability, whether through an employment group policy or an individual policy, mandates that a claimant suffer a total disability. Contrary to what most HR departments often think, total disability in the context of disability insurance does not mean that an employee must be completely helpless and incapable of any activity. Rather, total […]

Chronic mental illness claims, CPP disability benefits, disability insurance, employment group policy, employment law, independent medical evaluation, long-term disability insurance policies, long-term disability plans, Mental illness, psychiatric conditions, Psychiatric or psychotic disorders, total disability

Is working notice appropriate while an employee is medically incapable of working?

September 21, 2017 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll

In the recent decision of McLeod v. 127448 Ontario Inc. the Court (once again) answered whether or not a Plaintiff, who was incapable of working when he received notice of termination, was entitled to damages representing a salary which he would have earned had he worked during his notice period.

employment law, medical leave, notice period, termination, working notice, wrongful dimissal

A primer on undue hardship and frustration of contract

August 29, 2017 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employee Relations, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Human Rights, Notice, Damages and Settlements, Payroll, Pensions and Benefits, Union Relations, Wages and Compensation

This blog post provides a primer on the state of undue harship and frustration of contract under Ontario’s Human Rights Code.

accommodating a disability, Damages under Human Rights Code, duty to accommodate, employment contract, employment law, failed to prove undue hardship, frustration of contract, Ontario Human Rights Code, Return to work, return to work after an illness, undue hardship, wrongful dismissal

The law of just cause, revisited again

November 5, 2012 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

A few months ago I provided a contribution to this blog concerning an update on the law of just cause. I am doing so again with today’s blog, not for the fact that I am really interested in the law of just cause, but rather, judicial decisions that supported the defendant’s termination for just cause are quite uncommon and the factual circumstances are always quite interesting, such as in the newly released decision of Mykki Cavic v. Costco Wholesale Canada Limited.

benefits carrier, benefits insurer, Costco Wholesale, damages, dishonesty, employment law, employment relationship, falsifying health benefit claims, forgery, just cause, Manulife, misappropriation of benefits, reasonable notice, self-insurer, termination for just cause, terminations, wrongful dismissal

A quick primer on just cause termination

August 23, 2012 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Accessibility Standards, Employment/Labour Standards, Health and Safety, Human Resources, Standard for Employment

Every month I have the benefit of drafting a quick blog on great employment law topics. A case that I very recently read, which is probably the best employment case I have ever read, catalyzed my interest in drafting a quick primer on the law of just cause. In the case of Barton v. Rona Ontario Inc. (2012 ONSC 3809) the plaintiff Kerry Barton was an assistant store manager at Rona in Barrie. He managed approximately 140 employees. One of the employees was wheelchair bound…

accommodating a disability, accommodation, damages for wrongful dismissal, dismissing an employee for just cause, employment law, just cause, Notice of termination, summary dismissal, termination, Termination and Severance of Employment, termination for cause, termination pay, wheelchair bound, wrongful dismissal claim

Not an employee? Not an independent contractor? How the courts define the hybrid

June 11, 2012 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

Increasingly, Canadian courts have recognized an in-between class of agents that are not technically employees or not technically independent contractors. Over the past few years, our courts have come up with a hybrid category of agents called “dependent contractors.” These are independent individuals who work so closely with employers, and whose relationship status with their “employer” is so sufficiently long-lasting, as to allow them entitlement for reasonable notice.

contractor, dependent contractors, economic dependency, employee, employment law, employment relationship, hybrid position, independent contractor, intermediate or hybrid class, McKee v. Reid’s Heritage Homes Ltd., ontario, reasonable notice, Sarnelli (cob as East End Lock and Key) v. The Effort Trust Company, Self-employed, type of employee

The enforceability of termination provisions within contracts of employment

May 15, 2012 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

The employment relationship is a contractual one whether or not a contract of employment was signed. Contracts can be express or implied contracts, i.e., you agree to work and I agree to pay you. Verbal bargains are nearly always upheld as long as those implied contracts are governed by particular employment standards and obligations established by the common law.

employment agreements, employment contracts, employment law, employment standards act, ESA, Machtinger v. HOJ Industries Ltd., McGregor v. National Home Services, occupational health and safety act, OHRC, OHSA, Ontario Human Rights Code, restrictive covenants, review employment contracts, substratum doctrine, termination, termination entitlements, update employment contracts, verbal contracts, Wallace v. Toronto Dominion Bank, Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, WSIA

Variables affecting length of notice: age

April 9, 2012 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Payroll, Wages and Compensation

We know that there is no precise method to determine the common-law period of reasonable notice when terminating employees. What has evolved and has been the most quoted case to help with this is the infamous Bardal vs. Globe and Mail. This case tells us that reasonable notice must be decided with reference to each specific case, considering the character of employment, length of service of the servant, the age of the servant and the availability of similar employment, having regard to the experience, training and qualifications of the servant.

age, availability of similar employment, Bardal, Bardal Factors, Bardal vs. The Globe & Mail, BFOR, bona fide occupational requirement, common-law entitlements, employment contract, employment law, employment standards act, experience, Law vs. Canada, Moran vs. Atlantic Co-operative Publishers, notice period, Peacock vs. Western Securities Ltd., qualifications, retirement age, termination, Termination clause, termination notice, training

An overview of damages within the context of employment law

March 12, 2012 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

A wrongful dismissal lawsuit can be a potential nightmare for companies no matter what size. Lawsuits carry with them complex claims that are often convoluted and difficult to understand for the non-legal specialist. This blog post will offer a brief overview of the parameters of some of the damages which can be claimed within the context of a wrongful dismissal lawsuit.

aggravated damages, bad faith, damages within the context of employment law, employment law, employment standards act, mental distress, payment in lieu of notice, punitive damages, Quantum, reasonable notice, Supreme Court of Canada, termination, terminations, wrongful dismissal

Court again confirms no upper limit with damages for non-management and low-level workers

February 15, 2012 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

The case of Olivares v. Canac Kitchens (another in the long list of wrongful dismissal accounts against Canac Kitchens) arose from the termination of a 24-year employee. The employee was an uneducated shipping supervisor with poor English, who oversaw a team of loaders and coordinators. His salary was approximately $93,000, including overtime pay and benefits. He spent his entire Canadian working life with the company, communicating almost exclusively in Spanish. In May 2008, Canac Kitchens ceased its manufacturing operations and, as a result, Olivares was left looking for work…

Bardal Factors, Canac Kitchens, Di Tomaso v. Crown Metal Packaging Canada, employment law, employment standards act, hiring a lawyer, Keays v. Honda, mitigation, Olivares v. Canac Kitchens, payment in lieu of notice, termination, wrongful dismissal

Employees that wish to withdraw resignations: what to do?

January 11, 2012 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources

Employers should never accept resignations from employees that are upset. It simply casts a “wider net of possible financial exposure” if things turn nasty. In other words, judges or juries probably won’t sympathize with the issue of resignation acceptance if the employee is genuinely and legitimately upset (not because someone misplaced their red stapler).

employment law, Kieran v. Ingram Micro, mitigation, notice of resignation, notice period, offer to resign, quit or be fired, reasonable notice, resignation, termination, valid resignation, voluntary acceptance, withdraw resignation, wrongful dismissal, wrongful resignation

The sale of a business and some implications for employers and employees

December 12, 2011 Matt Lalande, Lalande & Company Lawyers Employee Relations, Employment/Labour Standards, Human Resources, Payroll, Wages and Compensation

Last month I was consulted by a woman with respect to a new employment agreement that she wanted reviewed. The employment opportunity presented to her was by a company that had purchased the software company she was currently employed with for the past 19 years. Her salary remained the same, as did the total of her bonus, although the bonus structure was altered to reflect seemingly unattainable goals. While the new bonus structure did in fact reflect the purchasing company’s exact bonus structure with all of its existing employees, this arrangement was originally her main concern.

canadian employment law, common law, common law obligations, company takeovers, employment law, employment standards act, ESA, ESA obligations, Nokes vs. Doncaster, novation, sale of a business, seniority, Sorel vs. Tomenson Whitehead, successor employer, termination, terminations, transitional contract, wrongful dismissal, years of service