Comments for First Reference

Comment on Termination compensation: A guide to severance pay under Ontario employment law by Guy Schembri

Guy Schembri — Wed, 27 Sep 2023 14:18:12 +0000

Thank you, I find this to be a great reference for answers to difficult questions both in HR and common law.

Comment on ChatGPT and AI in the workplace by Andrew Vey

Andrew Vey — Mon, 13 Mar 2023 21:43:41 +0000

Thanks for the question Victor. When I referred to the risk of intellectual property theft, it was primarily in the context of employees choosing to use publicly available AI-tools on their own initiative (and without their employer’s knowledge or consent). In such cases, any work product which results may or may not be offside of the AI’s terms of use. If an AI-tool is used for commercial purposes by a third party without its owner’s authorization, liability could follow.

Specific to ChatGPT, we may already be seeing its parent company, OpenAI, sending out takedown requests (https://torrentfreak.com/why-would-openai-send-chatgpt-takedown-notices-to-google-230312/) to Google for unauthorized use. In the months and years to come, it will be interesting to watch how various legal jurisdictions grapple with the regulation and usage rights of such AI-tools.

Comment on ChatGPT and AI in the workplace by Victor Chibuike

Victor Chibuike — Sun, 12 Mar 2023 09:23:18 +0000

This is a fascinating exposition. But I’ve got something that needs elaboration. When you said that it exposes employers to risk of intellectual property theft, does it mean that ChatGPT reproduce extant publications?

Comment on Decisions clarify the duty to mitigate by Bill Sullivan

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 18 Nov 2022 11:38:08 +0000

Great post as always Stuart, Thank You. Know first hand the result of a failure to mitigate damages. My small claims court case was dismissed for failing to try to find another job during reasonable notice period. I received 4 weeks pay in lieu of notice as mandated by Nova Scotia Labour Standards for a 6.5 year employee.

Comment on What is bad faith in a termination? by Bill Sullivan

Bill Sullivan — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 14:08:30 +0000

Great info as always, Thank You.

Comment on Wrongful dismissal damages by Bill Sullivan

Bill Sullivan — Sat, 16 Jul 2022 17:37:28 +0000

Great advice as always Stuart, Thank You,

Comment on Not everything is bad faith by Chris Budgell

Chris Budgell — Tue, 05 Apr 2022 05:25:41 +0000

My own long engagement with the legal system began with a workplace termination. I’m not sure if the term “bad faith” was part of my vocabulary back then. Ordinary people use terms like “dishonesty”. The term “bad faith” appears in the statute provision that enabled me to take a claim to the British Columbia Labour Relations Board. That provision uses the stock “duty of fair representation” language found everywhere in North America.

I would challenge anyone to go through the BCLRB’s extensive record on CanLII and find any decisions that expressly say the union acted in “bad faith”. Maybe there are some. I don’t recall ever finding any. So there is a situation that appears to be the opposite of what this article claims.

Comment on Here is my idea for a med/arb clause in an employment contract by Bill Sullivan

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 18 Mar 2022 15:17:41 +0000

Great idea @Barry- and what you you have wrote reads great!

Comment on Court finds that IDEL temporary layoff is constructive dismissal under common law by Bill Sullivan

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 11 Feb 2022 16:42:45 +0000

@Barry Fisher, in my own humble opinion I believe the decision in Coutinho v. Ocular Health Centre is correct. If an employee does not have employment contract that contains an express term allowing a temporary layoff of employment, and the employer lays the employee off, the employer has fundamentally breached the contract. A unilateral change to an employment contract, which a lay-off from your job would be, has denied the employee “fresh” consideration to the amended change to his/her contract of employment. What new benefit of value did I, the employee get out of this? This all assumes a person not working in an occupation were layoffs are customary.

Comment on Is a temporary layoff still a termination at common law? by Bill Sullivan

Bill Sullivan — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 15:45:47 +0000

All I can say is if an employment contract does not have a clause allowing layoffs, it is a fundamental breach of contract. A book I have had for many years written by Gerald Fridman- The Law of Contract In Canada- Fourth Edition states- The general principle is that a material alteration by one party,not assented to by the other and evidenced appropriately, will nullify the original contract.