Day 1: Thursday, May 1, 2025
Course Introduction and Land Acknowledgement (9:00 – 9:15)
Genevieve Chang (she/her) — Program Lawyer, CLEBC, Vancouver
Valerie Dixon (she/her) — City of Vancouver, Vancouver
James D. Kondopulos (he/him) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
One Size Does Not Fit All: A Comparative Analysis of the Interpretation and Treatment of Termination Provisions Across Canadian Jurisdictions (9:15 – 10:10)
- a cross-jurisdictional comparative analysis of the different provincial requirements to create a valid and enforceable termination provision
- overview of Egan v. Harbour Air Seaplanes LLP, 2024 BCCA 222 decision and any recent treatment
- a comparative analysis on the interpretation and treatment of termination provisions limiting notice across Canada
- best practices for drafting enforceable termination provisions across Canada
Kristen Shaw (she/they) — McMillan LLP, Vancouver
Claire Wanhella (she/her) — McMillan LLP, Vancouver
Employment Standards Branch Update (10:10 – 11:00)
- legislative updates
- program updates
- ESB's new ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) process
- case law of note
Mary Walsh (she/her) — Executive Director, Employment Standards Branch, Richmond
Michael Thompson (he/him) — Decision Maker/Team Leader, Employment Standards Branch, Richmond
BREAK (11:00 – 11:15)
Refining the Line: An Update on Sexual Misconduct in the Workplace (11:15 – 12:10)
- overview of socio-legal considerations/frameworks
- review of recent case law on sexual misconduct in the workplace, including
- just cause
- constructive dismissal
- injury claims
- remedies/venues
- practical tips for both employee and employer side-counsel
Navpreet Chhina (she/her) — Inlet Employment Law, Port Moody
Nazanin Panah (she/her) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
NETWORKING LUNCH (provided to in-person registrants) (12:10 – 1:10)
When Utilizing the "Capital Punishment" of Employment Law Goes Horribly Wrong: Improper Use of Just Cause Can Lead to Contract Enforceability Issues and Bad Faith Damages (1:10 – 2:00)
- current state of the law post-Waksdale
- review of recent case law on just cause and bad faith/aggravated damages including:
- misrepresentation
- attacks on social/business reputation and defamation
- unfair litigation strategy or use/abuse of superior resources
- consequences of improper use or overly broad definitions of just cause in employment agreements
- review of the law on bad faith in relation to insincere just cause positions, and bad faith damages more generally
Ian Jung (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Glen Stratton (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Veronica Ukrainetz (she/her) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Kelowna
When Your Residential Tenant is Also Your Employee (2:00 – 2:35)
- review of basic residential tenancy law for employment lawyers
- review of legal protections for residential caretakers and caretakers who do not live onsite
- overlap between residential tenancy and employment law:
- common employer: owners, landlords, and property managers
- terminating residential caretakers and evicting them
- terminating caretakers who don't live onsite
- case law highlights
Paula Krawus (she/her) — PortaLaw, Vancouver
Oscar Miklos (he/him) — Refresh Law, Burnaby
BREAK (2:35 – 2:50)
The Privileges of Employment Law (2:50 – 3:40)
- categories of privilege in employment law cases, including:
- solicitor-client privilege
- litigation privilege (solicitor's brief privilege)
- settlement/negotiation privilege
- waivers of privilege (voluntary, implied, inadvertent)
- examples of privilege facing the practicing employment lawyer, including:
- PIPA and FIPPA requests
- in the union setting
- in investigations process
- in pleadings in overlapping actions
- tips for the ethical and practical application of privilege in the employment law context
Sarah Hentschel (she/her) — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver
Kelley Cho (she/her) — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver
Privacy Potpourri for the Employment Lawyer (3:40 – 4:30)
- privacy issues that arise in the workplace, and provide guidance on best practices to address each, whether advising employers or employees, including:
- why employers should have a policy addressing AI, what should be in it, and whether using ChatGPT to help draft it is (or should be) offside that policy
- balancing privacy obligations to safeguard personal information with disclosure obligations in legal proceedings or under an access for information request
- the risks and realities of surreptitious recordings in the workplace, practical takeaways from Shalagin v. Mercer Calgary Limited Partnership, 2023 BCCA 373
- what a "reasonable expectation of privacy" looks like in the workplace, unpacking the SCC's decision in York Region District School Board v. Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, 2024 SCC 22
- best practices for collecting personal information for inclusion, diversity and equity initiatives or requirements, including pay transparency reporting
Richard B. Johnson (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Victoria Merritt (she/her) — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
Reception (Pan Pacific Hotel) (4:30 – 6:30), hosted by:
Day 2: Friday, May 2, 2025
Welcome (9:00 – 9:10)
Valerie Dixon (she/her) — City of Vancouver, Vancouver
James D. Kondopulos (he/him) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
Developments in Jurisdiction: Disparate Employment Claims and the Common Law (9:10 – 10:00)
- developments in the law with respect to unions and wrongful dismissal claims
- the "Weber" analysis
- the "Viking" test in the context of "vague" collective agreements
- developments in the law regarding personal injury claims and WCAT
- the distinction between injury claims and punitive damages claims
- a judge's discretion, and s. 311 Applications under the Workers' Compensation Act
- jurisdiction and territorial competence:
- striking claims based on jurisdictional competence may mirror territorial competence: the evidentiary threshold is "not high"
- the effect of these developments on pre-trial applications
Micah Goldberg (he/him) — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver
Sean Tevlin (he/him) — Tevlin Gleadle Curtis Employment Law Strategies, Vancouver
Navigating Workplace Investigations (10:00 – 11:00)
- strategic considerations for counsel and investigators in bullying and harassment complaints
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- threshold issues, including alternatives, procedures and non-standard complaints
- during the investigation: new allegations, difficult witnesses, and role of counsel
- post-investigation: reports, restoration of workplace, and evidence issues
Maggie Campbell (she/her) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
Brooke Finkelstein (she/her) — West Coast Workplace Law, Richmond
Kirsten Hume Scrimshaw (she/her) — Ally Workplace Law, North Vancouver
Leanne M. Walsh (she/her) — West Coast Workplace Law, Richmond
BREAK (11:00 – 11:15)
WCAT Certification to Court Process and Mental Disorder Claims (11:15 – 12:10)
- when do Certification to Court Applications arise?
- why is there a limitation on personal injury claims against employers?
- when do you need to make a Certification to Court Application?
- what is the effect of the Certification to Court Application?
- WorkSafeBC's interest in the Certification to Court process
- WCAT's framework for making determinations in a Certification to Court
- review of recent cases where Certification to Court was sought
- future of Certifications to Court and relation to mental disorder claims
- speaking of mental disorder claims…a discussion of Pickering
Johanna Goosen (she/her) — Acting Director of Litigation, WorkSafeBC, Richmond
Dallan Poulin (he/him) — Roper Greyell LLP, Victoria
Brittany Therrien (she/her) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
LUNCH (12:10 – 1:45) with Featured Speakers: Navigating the Practice of Employment Law: Insights, Experiences, and Best Practices (at 12:40)
Anita Atwal (she/her) — Anita Atwal Law Corporation, Surrey
Valerie Dixon (she/her) — City of Vancouver, Vancouver
Nazeer T. Mitha, KC (he/him) — Mitha Law Corporation, Vancouver
Restrictive Covenants in Employment Contracts (1:45 – 2:35)
- update on how restrictive covenants in BC employment contracts have been addressed, especially given recent amendments to Ontario's Employment Standards Act
- when are restrictive covenants valid (what geographical/temporal scope has been found to be reasonable and why)
- how damages are assessed for breach of a non-competition or non-solicitation covenant
Salim Visram (he/him) — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
Eleni Kassaris (she/her) — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
BREAK (2:35 – 2:50)
Liability for Providing Negative Reference (2:50 – 3:20)
- liability for defamation arising from negative job references
- requirements to establish qualified privilege
- limits on qualified privilege when a reference is not listed by the candidate
- impact of informal references on defamation liability
- defining malice in the context of negative job references
- employer obligations when responding to reference requests
Fred Wynne (he/him) — Tevlin Gleadle Curtis Employment Law Strategies, Vancouver
Spencer Sloane (he/him) — Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, Vancouver
Case Law Update (3:20 – 4:20)
- key cases
- analysis and trends
- effects on practice
Sebastian Chern (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Eric Ito (he/him) — Cooperwilliams Truman & Ito LLP, Vancouver
Fiona McFarlane (she/her) — Kane Shannon & Weiler LLP, Surrey
Cameron R. Wardell (he/him) — Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP, Vancouver
Closing Comments (4:20 – 4:30)
Valerie Dixon (she/her) — City of Vancouver, Vancouver
James D. Kondopulos (he/him) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver