November 2024

Imagine facing discrimination—at work, in housing, or in accessing services—and deciding to stand up for your rights. You file a claim with Ontario’s Human Rights Tribunal (HRTO), expecting justice. But instead of finding a fair and accessible system, you’re thrown into a bureaucratic nightmare where most claims are dismissed before anyone even hears your story. This isn’t just a story of red tape. It’s a story of justice denied. For regular people like you and me, navigating the HRTO is no longer about fairness—it’s about survival in a system that feels designed to push you out. The Numbers Don’t Lie:…

If you have been terminated, often, the first thing you need to decide is whether to accept the termination package presented by your former employer. Some employees are not even aware that they are making this decision by signing their termination letter. Employers will take advantage of this by insisting an employee needs to sign to get anything or claiming that this is the maximum owed under the employment contract.[1] As with everything to do with your employment, the best thing you can do to protect yourself is speak to an employment lawyer before doing anything. The case of Wilds…

Introduction The Working for Workers Act Four, 2024, has been pitched as bringing significant changes to Ontario’s employment laws, aiming to curb employer abuses and bolster protections for workers. Schedule 2 allegedly introduces crucial updates to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) that target what the government has identified as loopholes used by employers to circumvent its protections, such as trial period work, deceptive job posting and interview practices, and wage theft via ‘tipping policies.’ These changes have been touted as helping all employees in Ontario, with the specific goal of protecting those in precarious or service industry jobs, where…

You’ve just been fired and handed an offer that is an insult. The employer then rubs the salt into the wound by refusing to pay your minimum entitlements at law. You can sue them for common law notice, but that is for the loss of your employment. What about the harm done to you? Many employees feel they will never see their employer held to account and accept the meagre settlement amount. This is a mistake. The Courts look extremely poorly on bad faith conduct by the employer before, during, and after termination, including during a lawsuit. Employers tend to…