Few aware of labour rights in Toronto’s Chinatown

Exploitation typical in other immigrant communities, labour activists say.
Read the Full Article on the Toronto Star

Human Rights Tribunal awards $20,000 to employee fired after cancer diagnosis

Still reeling from the news that she had breast cancer, Elsa Torrejon was shocked when her employer told her not to bother coming back to work. Yesterday the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ordered the Weston Property Management Corporation to pay Ms. Torrejon over $20,000 in general damages and lost wages. The Tribunal also ordered the company to learn about Ontario's Human Rights Code and report back to the Tribunal when the training has been completed.

Vice Chair Naomi Overend of the Human Rights Tribunal found that Weston "acted upon this mistaken belief that it could terminate the employment of the applicant, who was going to require time off work for surgery and treatment, without regard to whether or not her disability-related absence could be accommodated."

To review the full case please visit CanLII Elsa Torrejon v. 1147335 Ontario Inc. O/A Weston Property Management

WSIB Fixing Injured Workers Re-training Program

The new program, re-branded the Work Re-integration Program and set to begin by end of year, will put WSIB managers back in charge of injured workers’ rehabilitation, give workers more say in their re-training plans, make greater use of Ontario’s public education system for the re-training, and aim to give workers “marketable skills and valid credentials.”

Read the Article in the Toronto Star

$25,000 Judgement for Racist Comments

Here is a perfect example of an employee enforcing the rights afforded to every employee in Ontario under the Ontario Human Rights Code. According to an article in yesterday's Toronto Star, Cheryl Khan received a $25,000 judgement in her favour after her employer berated her with racist comments and fired her. She was also awarded $6,750 in lost wages.

For more information on human rights in the workplace, take a look at our pre-recorded webinar on the topic.

Human Rights in the Workplace Webinar

Our friends at CLEONet have graciously hosted our Human Rights in the Workplace Webinar on their site. You can view the Webinar in its entirety below, or view it on CLEONet.

See also:

• PowerPoint slides
  
• PowerPoint slides in PDF

Employment Standards Webinar

Our friends at CLEONet have graciously hosted our Employment Standards Webinar on their site. You can view the Webinar in its entirety below, or view it on CLEONet.

See also:

• PowerPoint slides
  
• PowerPoint slides in PDF

The Supreme Court of Canada Rules Against Wal-Mart Workers

A move to unionize the massive Wal-Mart store chain was dealt a blow this morning when the Supreme Court of Canada voted 6-3 against workers at a Quebec outlet that attempted to unionize.

Mr. Justice Ian Binnie said for the majority that the workers could not avail themselves of a particular provision under the Quebec labour code which they had used to challenge the closure.

In stinging dissenting reasons, the three dissenting judges said that the majority ruling was overly-technical and that courts must be prepared to search out "anti-union animus" in cases that involve a closure.

Read the full article in the Globe and Mail

Read the decisions on CanLII:
Plourde v. Wal-Mart Canada Corp., 2009 SCC 54 (CanLII)
Desbiens v. Wal-Mart Canada Corp., 2009 SCC 55 (CanLII)