Canadian Employment Law Today

February 14, 2018

Focuses on human resources law from a business perspective, featuring news and cases from the courts, in-depth articles on legal trends and insights from top employment lawyers across Canada.

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PM40065782 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad ad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com February 14, 2018 New position, new duties, lower pay means constructive dismissal Halifax newspaper unilaterally shifted account executive from its own ad sales to marketing its print products and sports apparel businesses BY JEFFREY R. SMITH A NOVA SCOTIA newspaper must pay damages equal to 16 months' notice to a for- mer employee of 21 years after its attempt to change his job duties and compensation re- sulted in a constructive dismissal, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court has ruled. Calvin Clarke, 42, was an account execu- tive with e Halifax Herald newspaper. He was originally hired in 1994 — his fi rst job — and three years later became an account executive working with sales of print adver- tising for the newspaper and its related pub- lications. His income was based on the per- centage increase in the annual target, which was based on the previous year's sales. As a result, his overall pay fl uctuated somewhat from year to year. Clarke went on paid sick leave in 2014 that lasted seven weeks and again from Jan. 1 to March 2, 2015. On his fi rst day back at work in March 2015, he was informed he had a new position — that of business develop- Supreme Court broadens protection against workplace discrimination Top court upholds tribunal decision that harassment from employee of diff erent employer at same workplace is related to employment of victim BY RONALD MINKEN CAN AN EMPLOYEE claim workplace discrimination against an employee from another company? According to the recent Supreme Court of Canada case of British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal v. Sch- renk, the answer, in some circumstances, is yes. In Schrenk, the top court found that s. 13(1)(b) of the British Columbia Human Rights Code, which prohibits discrimi- nating against someone "regarding em- ployment," was not limited to protecting employees from their superiors in the work- place and employers, but, rather, the pro- tection extends to all employees who "suff er discrimination with a suffi cient connection to their employment context." e issue arose when Mohammadreza Sheikhzadeh-Mashgoul allegedly experi- enced discriminatory comments at work CREDIT: JOCIC/SHUTTERSTOCK Not all addiction is created equally pg. 3 Ontario arbitrator fi nds addiction isn't automatic defense for stealing drugs in a medical workplace Reinstatement eludes teacher despite successful grievance pg. 4 Misconduct didn't justify dismissal, but dishonesty and accusations damaged employment relationship beyond repair HARASSER on page 6 » EMPLOYEE on page 7 » ASK AN EXPERT pg. 2 Determining break in service ASK AN EXPERT Determining break in service with Tim Mitchell

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