OHRC Position on Medical Documentation

by | Feb 23, 2017 | Charity & Not-for-Profit Law, Employment Law, Expertise

The proper management of employee medical absences is one of the most challenging human resource issues employers, including charities and not-for-profits, often face. One aspect of leave management (e.g. paid or unpaid time off for medical or other reasons) relates to the extent of medical documentation employers can require from their employees (and their health practitioners) in cases where disability related requests for workplace accommodation are made. In this regard, in making requests for medical information from employees seeking Code-related accommodation, charities and not-for-profits should remember to limit requests for medical documentation to what is reasonably required to facilitate the accommodation. The failure to do so may expose the organization to claims that it did not take appropriate steps to respond to the accommodation request, and therefore breached the employee’s privacy rights, both of which could result in costly claims against the organization, and potentially its directors and officers.

For the balance of this Bulletin, please see Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 397

A New Era: Obligation to Know Thy Advocate and Supervise Thy Litigation

by | Feb 23, 2017 | Expertise, Litigation & Dispute Resolution

In an important case recently released by the Court of Appeal for Ontario (the “Court”), Southwestern
Sales Corp. v. Spurr Bros Ltd. 2016 ONCA 590 (“Southwestern”), the Court imposed a positive
obligation on sophisticated corporate litigants to “supervise its counsel’s [lawyer’s] work to ensure an
expeditious determination of the action on the merits”. The Court’s comments in Southwestern were
made in the context of dismissing a construction lien action for delay after 13 years, and in the absence
of an acceptable explanation.

Litigation Bulletin No. 1