Greg Gowe's

The United Steelworkers (USW) union issued a news release yesterday in which they reported that the BC Interior Bargaining Committee had reached a tentative collective agreement with the Council on Northern Interior Forest Employment Relations (CONIFER).

Details were not released but in general terms, the USW says that the four-year agreement, which would expire on July 1, 2013, provides for the following:  read more »

In Dawydiuk v. Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, 2010 BCCA 353, the BC Court of Appeal addressed whether the contents of an email written by a dismissed employee's supervisor were defamatory and , if so, whether they were  protected by the defence of qualified privilege.

Background 

Ms. Dawydiuk began her employment with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia ("ICBC") in 1988 as a clerk. At the time of her dismissal in 2004, she was 38 years-old and in a managerial position.

Ms. Dawydiuk had been off work since June 2003, first on a sick leave and then on a maternity/parental leave.  She was scheduled to return to work on October 4, 2004.

On July 5, 2004, while still on leave, Ms.Dawydiuk was phoned by her supervisor and advised of a restructuring that had resulted in her position being eliminated. Her supervisor advised her of two other available managerial positions, however, and asked her to let him know which one she would like.  read more »

The three cases are:

1. Syndicat de la fonction publique du Québec v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2010 SCC 28
   
2. Syndicat des professeurs du Cégep de Ste-Foy v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2010 SCC 29
3. Syndicat des professeurs et des professeures de l'Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières v. Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, 2010 SCC 30

Eamon Murphy and Kathryn Deo, at Woodward & Company in Victoria, have written a paper on "Employment Policies for First Nations Employers" (undated).

Four lawyers at Lang Michener LLP have prepared a reference guide on "Employee Share Incentive Plans" (updated June 15, 2010). In the authors own words:

This guide provides an overview of the most commonly used employee share incentive plans and the main considerations when structuring, implementing and maintaining such incentives, including considerations with respect to securities laws, stock exchange requirements, employment law and tax. The guide also addresses selected "hot button" issues such as "backdating" and re-pricing of options as well as providing specific examples of how stock options are taxed.

I wrote about the Vilven mandatory retirement case in an August 2009 entry and a September 2009 entry.

Briefly, Mr. Vilven is a pilot with Air Canada who, along with another pilot, was forced to retire at age 60. The pilots responded by filing a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ("CHRT"). The CHRT allowed their complaint in a ruling that calls into question whether it is still permissible for any federally regulated organization to have a mandatory retirement policy. The Air Canada Pilots Association, the pilots' union which supports age 60 mandatory retirement, subsequently filed a judicial review application of the CHRT's ruling.

There was a very short article in today's Globe and Mail newspaper ("Senior Air Canada pilots allege age discrimination") updating this story. According to the article:  read more »

Ontario lawyer Carl W. Peterson has written a paper on, "The Criminalization of Health and Safety Law: Workplace Deaths Leads to Charges" (June 2010). Mr. Peterson practices at Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti LLP. The paper addresses Bil C-45 and covers the following topics:  read more »

Both the Vancouver Sun and Globe and Mail newspapers carried stories this week about former Vancouver police officer Allen Dalstrom obtaining a $2 million out of court settlement in relation to a wrongful dismissal case.

This is a significant settlement in any wrongful dismissal case, particularly one involving a police officer who is reported to have been earning about $100,000 a year.

Although this week's media stories provide a lot of the colour about the case, I relied mainly on the decision in Dalstrom v. Organized Crime Agency of BC, 2008 BCSC 844, which dealt with a pre-trial application, for my summary of the facts and proceedings below.  

Background

Dalstrom was a long term police officer with the Vancouver Police Department. In 2000, he was recruited to join the Organized Crime Agency of British Columbia ("OCABC").

The OCABC is responsible for combating organized crime in BC and Dalstrom was appointed supervisor of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Team.  read more »

"Arbitral Jurisdiction over Tortious Privacy Violations" (June 18, 2010) is the title of the paper that Pamela R. Costanzo and Stephanie T. Mayor, of Black Gropper, presented at the Labour Relations Conference - 2010. The conference was put on by the Continuing Legal Education Society of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. The paper:

...examines whether an arbitrator appointed under the Labour Relations
Code would have jurisdiction to apply the BC Privacy Act, or award a remedy
under it. It examines the historical development of the arbitral jurisprudence
on breach of privacy. It also considers whether a common law tort of breach of
privacy exists, and what alternative torts, and remedies, are available to
plaintiffs who have experienced a breach of privacy in the context of
employment.

Jackson Lewis, a labour and employment law firm with 46 offices throughout the United States, has released the results of a Workplace Survey it conducted of in-house counsel at large and medium size companies across the US.

The survey asked the in-house lawyers about trends and practices in their organizations. As set out in Jackson Lewis' June 18, 2010 press release, among the most notable findings from the survey were:  read more »