Tag archives: human rights

Will Artificial Intelligence Need Human Rights Training ?

Rhonda ShirreffBy Rhonda Shirreff on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
The Financial Post interviews Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP’s patent and trademark lawyer Maya Medeiros on Artificial Intelligence’s discriminatory biases. Despite all of the advances in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), experts reveal that these technologies are not immune from some of the less-than-admirable tendencies which afflict humans. As recently reported by the Financial … Continue reading

La présomption d’innocence peut-elle s’opposer au licenciement d’un salarié fondé sur des faits visés par une procédure pénale ?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Europe, France
La Cour de cassation a été saisie d’un dossier concernant un salarié de la société Euro Disney, qui avait été licencié à la suite de la découverte, par son employeur, et dans le cadre d’une enquête pénale, du fait que celui-ci avait acheté à l’un de ses collègues des stupéfiants. En effet, au printemps 2012, … Continue reading

Proposed amendments to the Ontario Human Rights Code include new prohibited grounds of discrimination

Rhonda ShirreffBy Rhonda Shirreff on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment, North America
On October 4, 2017 Bill 164, The Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2017 was introduced into the Ontario Legislative Assembly and passed First Reading the same day. If enacted, it would expand the prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) to include immigration status; genetic characteristics; police records; and social … Continue reading

Use of social media in France: Employee’s rights and obligations

Global Workplace InsiderFrançois GuillonBy Elodie Grangier and François Guillon on Posted in Contracts, Data privacy and GDPR, Europe, France
The impact of the use of social media in the workplace has regularly given rise to controversies and debates as how this subject is to be handled by a company’s management. The current state of employment law is still not entirely settled in this respect. It is however possible to provide some guidance on the … Continue reading

Employers may be justified in requesting an independent medical examination as part of the procedural aspect of the duty to accommodate

Rhonda ShirreffBy Rhonda Shirreff on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
  Jurisprudence on independent medical examinations (IME) in the context of the employer’s duty to accommodate is sparse.  The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently provided much-needed guidance in Bottiglia v Ottawa Catholic School Board.  In Bottiglia, the Court held that in certain circumstances, an employer may be justified in requesting an IME as part … Continue reading

Application for interlocutory injunction preventing implementation of random drug and alcohol testing of TTC employees denied

Rhonda ShirreffBy Rhonda Shirreff on Posted in Canada
  In Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113 v Toronto Transit Commission, 2017 ONSC 2078, Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113 (ATU) unsuccessfully argued that the implementation of the random drug and alcohol testing of its members should be withheld until the conclusion of the main arbitration hearing addressing the validity of the new drug and alcohol … Continue reading

An important decision on the implementation of drug and alcohol policies in safety-sensitive workplaces issued by the Supreme Court of Canada

Philippe BélisleBy Philippe Bélisle on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Canada issued a much awaited judgment on an appeal from an Alberta Court of Appeal decision in the Stewart v. Elk Valley Coal Corp. case. Mr. Stewart (the Appellant) worked in a mine operated by the Elk Valley Coal Corporation, driving a loader. As a means to ensure safety in … Continue reading

Summer Dress Codes

Karen JensenBy Karen Jensen on Posted in Canada
With summer fast approaching appropriate summer dress codes are back in the spotlight. Frequent discussion takes place regarding the degree to which an employer can determine what an employee is permitted to wear. Inappropriate work attire can be problematic to deal with for employers.  What is appropriate summer work attire in a given workplace, and … Continue reading

Corporate Human Rights 2017 Benchmark shows companies at relatively early stage in implementing UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights 

Rhonda ShirreffBy Rhonda Shirreff on Posted in Canada
The Corporate Human Rights 2017 Benchmark is a pilot project led by a not-for-profit company backed by a number of global investment management firms, governmental departments in the UK, Switzerland and the Netherlands, and various international foundation.  The overarching goal of the Benchmark is to create the first open and transparent public benchmark of corporate … Continue reading

Expanding definition of “sex discrimination” under Title VII

James HughesBy James Hughes on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, United States
The Judiciary continues to act where Congress will not All employment attorneys—and most employers—know that Title VII bars discrimination based on certain enumerated personal characteristics: race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It has long been the case that “sex” meant biological sex only, i.e., discriminating against a woman because she is a woman, or … Continue reading

Le devoir de vigilance : une obligation renforcée

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
L’obligation de vigilance est une obligation faite aux entreprises de prévenir les risques sociaux, environnementaux et de gouvernance lié à leurs activités. La loi du 27 mars 2017 relative au devoir de vigilance des sociétés mères et des entreprises donneuses d’ordre, publiée le 28 mars 2017 au Journal Officiel, renforce l’obligation de vigilance. Le devoir … Continue reading

Key employment law developments expected in 2017

Jannis BreitschwerdtBy Jannis Breitschwerdt on Posted in Contracts, General, Germany
A significant amount of new employment legislation is expected or is already in place for 2017. Key changes will be in the hiring of temporary workers through an agency (referred to as “personnel leasing” in Germany), employee protection and equal treatment. Reform of laws regarding personnel leasing One of the main developments in 2017 will … Continue reading

Women who have suffered workplace discrimination in the RCMP may soon be compensated for decades of mistreatment

Rhonda ShirreffBy Rhonda Shirreff on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
Since 2012, two class action lawsuits have been filed against the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).  The lawsuits allege that current and former female officers and employees were subject to systemic gender-based bullying, discrimination, and harassment in the workplace, causing the affected women to suffer physical and psychological damage, personal expense, and loss of income, … Continue reading

Small Businesses and the AODA: New Requirements as of January 1, 2017

Global Workplace InsiderBy Heather Cameron on Posted in Canada
Over the last few years, large Ontario employers have been busy implementing changes to their practices in order to meet new accommodation requirements under the Accessibility of Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). As of January 1, 2017, Ontario employers with fewer than 50 employees must now meet additional obligations with respect to employment standards and … Continue reading

Legislation proposing to add “genetic characteristics” to prohibited grounds of discrimination

John MastorasBy John Mastoras on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
Recently, a private member’s bill which proposes to add “genetic characteristics” to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination under the Ontario Human Rights Code went through its second reading at Queen’s Park and was referred to the committee stage. From an employment law point of view, if this bill is passed into law, the … Continue reading

Arbitrator makes further determinations regarding influenza vaccination policies in hospitals.

Rhonda ShirreffBy Rhonda Shirreff on Posted in Canada, Discrimination and harassment
With the cold weather setting in, flu season is officially in full swing. Last year, Arbitrator Jim Hayes considered whether hospitals could implement policies requiring nurses to either get the flu shot or wear a mask. In the test case decision of Sault Area Hospital and Ontario Nurses’ Association (“Sault Area Hospital”), Arbitrator Hayes found … Continue reading

Does the exercise of the religious right to wear a turban override the obligation to wear a safety hat?

Philippe BélisleCaroline JodoinBy Philippe Bélisle and Caroline Jodoin on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Québec
On September 21, 2016, the Québec Superior Court issued a judgment (2016 QCCS 4521) concluding that truckers of the Sikh religion were not exempt from the obligation to wear a safety hat while completing certain work-related tasks out of their trucks on various Port of Montréal premises. The plaintiffs were truckers from different private transportation … Continue reading

A new model of discrimination?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Jeanne Mageau-Taylor on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Québec
Last December, the French government passed a bill decreeing that models must now obtain a medical certification in order to be able to work in France. Companies found not to be respecting the new law will be liable to a fine of more than 75,000 euros (approximately $CAN 108,000 at the current exchange rate) and their … Continue reading

The Duty to Accommodate Employees Suffering from Drug Addiction or Alcoholism in Quebec

Xavier HamelBy Xavier Hamel on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Québec
Alcoholism and drug addiction have been recognized as diseases pursuant to the definition of a “handicap” established within the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.  Therefore, an employee suffering from limitations related to his or her addiction is afforded protection against discrimination guaranteed by the Quebec Charter in Article 10. What does it mean … Continue reading
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