Canadian Employment Law Today

PM40065782 Emplo y ment Law Today Canad ad a ian www.employmentlawtoday.com June 22, 2016 One employment relationship saved, another destroyed Worker who apologized for leaving early multiple times deserves reinstatement, while other who didn't stays fi red: Arbitrator BY JEFFREY R. SMITH TWO Ontario workers who were observed leav- ing work early on multiple occasions and denied it in investigative interviews have received diff er- ent fates from an arbitrator. Willie Loyst, 50, and Steve Dervenis, 50, were arena operators for the City of Kingston, Ont. Both men worked at the Invista Centre, an arena complex that contained ice pads, meeting rooms, and a fi tness centre. Loyst worked full-time and Dervenis part-time at the centre, and they were responsible for operations at an adjacent sports fi eld in addition to the arena. Duties included assisting customers who rent the facility, main- taining the ice, and cleaning the change rooms, meeting rooms, and concourse. In the summer, they took down the ice, painted the lines and lo- gos, and looked after lighting on the sports fi elds. Operators at the Invista Centre worked either a day shift or a night shift — which overlapped Negligent misrepresentation by employer leads to 40 months' LTD benefi ts Employer's benefi ts brochure didn't refl ect reality when newly-hired employee's medical condition worsened BY RONALD MINKEN A BRITISH COLUMBIA company must pay more than $90,000 to an employee with a medical condition for misrepresenting its long-term disability (LTD) benefi ts before the employee accepted a job with it, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled. At the age of nine, the employee, Cary Feldstein, was diagnosed with cystic fi brosis. Due to his condition, Feldstein would not ac- cept employment unless it off ered "suffi cient and appropriate LTD benefi ts," which were not conditional on the absence of any pre- existing health conditions. Feldstein was terminated from his previ- ous employer with six months' working no- tice and immediately began looking for new work. During this time, he obtained an in- terview with Vancouver tech company 364 Northern Development Corp., which led to a second interview. During the second inter- view, Feldstein informed the company of his cystic fi brosis condition and inquired wheth- er it off ered employee benefi ts, requesting a brochure outlining such benefi ts. e com- pany eventually provided Feldstein with a booklet outlining the employee benefi ts, following which Feldstein asked a few ques- tions including what constituted "proof of Legislative reform regarding sexual harassment pg. 3 Ontario and other jurisdictions are bringing more protection for victims with Tim Mitchell CREDIT: NAGEL PHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK Increased OT expectations discriminate against employee with small child pg. 4 Restructuring led to increased load requiring OT, but employee had childcare obligations ASK AN EXPERT pg. 2 Dismissing a probationary employee EMPLOYEE'S on page 7 » WORKERS on page 6 »

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