Monday’s Mix

Each Monday we present brief excerpts of recent posts from five of Canada’s award­-winning legal blogs chosen at random* from more than 80 recent Clawbie winners. In this way we hope to promote their work, with their permission, to as wide an audience as possible.

This week the randomly selected blogs are 1. Labour Pains 2. Global Workplace Insider 3. Avoid a Claim 4. BC Injury Law Blog 5. Condo Adviser

Labour Pains
Time Spent as Independent Contractor Relevant Factor in Calculating Reasonable Notice

Is the amount of time spent as an “independent contractor” an appropriate fact for the court to consider when calculating the reasonable notice period if the worker later becomes either a true employee or dependant contractor? In Cormier v. 1772887 Ontario Limited c.o.b. as St. Joseph Communications, 2019 ONSC 587 (CanLII), affirmed by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Cormier v. 1772887 Ontario Limited (St. Joseph Communications), 2019 ONCA 965 (CanLII), Justice Paul Perell held that, it would be wrong in principle to ignore those years of the relationship in determining the reasonable notice period. …

Global Workplace Insider
Employers should be careful about terminating employment around the holidays

While it’s always important for employers to be professional when dismissing an employee, employers would be wise to exercise extra care if they have to let someone go during the holiday season. Canadian courts have long cautioned employers to avoid being unduly insensitive in the way they dismiss employees. Courts don’t look kindly on terminations that are, as the Ontario Court of Appeal once described, “cold and brusque.” …

Avoid a Claim
Fraud for Shelter Update

With housing prices on the rise, more rigorous mortgage rules, and the resulting difficulty for some Ontarians to purchase property, real estate lawyers should be mindful of fraud for shelter. Fraud for shelter differs from traditional real estate frauds. Usually in a real estate fraud, the goal is to fraudulently sell the property or to…

BC Injury Law Blog
“No Weight” Placed on Opinion of ICBC Medical Expert in Injury Case

In the latest example of a pattern that is all too common in injury litigation, reasons for judgment were published this week by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, rejecting and placing “no weight” on the medical evidence of an expert retained by a Defendant’s insurer. In today’s case (Sharma v. Chui) the Plaintiff was involved in a 2012 crash that the Defendant accepted liability for. The Plaintiff suffered chronic soft tissue injuries as a consequence of the crash which were partially impairing in her functioning. …

Condo Adviser
The Condo Director Who Stole Christmas

As we approach year end and embark on our collective mad-dash towards the holidays, we thought we’d revisit a Christmas classic and adapt it to the condo world. Here’s our last post of the year; our Condo Christmas Story. Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals involved. …

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*Randomness here is created by Random.org and its list randomizing function.