Employers should be prepared to back up their reasons for dismissing an employee or risk leaving themselves open to a claim for aggravated damages, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. In Krmpotic v. Thunder Bay Electronics Limited, the Court of Appeal for...

Employers should take care when offering fixed-term contracts after the Court of Appeal upheld a $550,000 damages award to an independent contractor fired just seven months into a 72-month contract, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. In the case of...

Read Stephany Mandin's article on The Brandon Sun here.  

A recent Ontario Superior Court decision that cost the owners of the Wild Wing chain almost $1 million underlines the consumer-protection role of the province’s franchise legislation, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. In the case of Jayasena Management...

Employment contracts may be rendered null and void if an employee’s role and responsibilities have fundamentally changed since they signed the agreement, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.  In Celestini v. Shoplogix Inc., the Court of Appeal for Ontario...

A new law enhancing Ontario universities’ power to fire staff for sexual misconduct raises fairness and procedural concerns, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. Under Bill 26, the Strengthening Post-Secondary Institutions and Students Act, any termination or...

Employment lawyers will have to wait a little longer for the highly contentious debate over a pandemic-related leave to be settled after the Court of Appeal for Ontario declined an opportunity to weigh in, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. The provincial...

The ball is in Parliament’s court to come up with a constitutional law on extreme intoxication as a defence to serious criminal charges after the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the existing bar on its use in cases of self-induced inebriation, says Toronto civil...

Employers would face no new limits on employee surveillance under proposed electronic monitoring legislation as long as they tell workers what they are doing, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.  Bill 88, the Working for Workers Act, is currently under...

Headline-grabbing changes to Ontario’s workplace laws may be more symbolic than revolutionary in practice, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.  Premier Doug Ford’s provincial government hailed itself as a “first mover” on the path to the workplace of the...

Ontarian employees will need more than a personal preference against Covid-19 vaccines to defy workplace mandates, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.  Since Sept. 22, Doug Ford’s provincial government has required patrons to show proof of vaccination with...

The debate over a pandemic-related leave has migrated from the bar to the bench, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.  Ever since the Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL) was enacted last spring, employment lawyers have been locked in dispute over...

Some employers may have taken advantage of a pandemic-related leave meant to shield employees, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. The Infectious Disease Emergency Leave (IDEL) was first enacted in March last year – right after the pandemic took hold and the...

A civil liberties group face an uphill battle to defeat the federal government’s quarantine hotel policy after a judge refused to step in to the fray immediately, according to Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. In his March 22 ruling, Ontario Superior Court...

Employers hoping to send a message with executive level terminations for COVID-19 breaches could get more than they bargained for, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.  A series of high profile dismissals involving pandemic travel have hit the headlines in...

Canada’s top court could offer some clarity over the use of extreme intoxication as a defence to serious criminal charges after agreeing to hear arguments on a controversial case, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.  Ontario’s Court of Appeal sparked outrage...

Sept 28, 2020 Judges aren’t the only ones who need sexual assault awareness training The earlier sexual assault awareness and healthy relationship training can start, the better, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.  Legislators in each of the last two...

A precedent-setting ruling declaring a school board vicariously liable for sexual abuse carried out by one of its teachers provides useful guidance for both educational administrators and sexual assault victims, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.  CBC News...

Fears about loosening restrictions on the use of extreme intoxication as a defence to criminal charges may be overblown, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. In R v. Sullivan, the Court of Appeal for Ontario ruled that s. 33.1 of the Criminal Code – which...

The COVID-19 crisis should prompt a reassessment of the value provided by Canada’s most vulnerable workers, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. With non-essential workers confined either to their homes or to the employment-insurance lines, Mandin, principal...

A recent decision provides both franchisees and franchisors with some clarity on what constitutes notice of rescission under the Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000 (AWA), says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin, who acted for the successful...

TORONTO — A man who argued misapplication of Canada's rape shield law had unfairly hamstrung his defence had his conviction restored last week even though the country's top court found errors in how judges had applied the provisions.In a 5-2 ruling, the Supreme Court...

Victims of harassment should not be afraid to seek legal advice, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.Mandin, principal of Mandin Law, has been involved in a spate of recent matters dealing with workers or students who took action against their employers or...

In the first installment of a two-part series on harassment complaints, Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin discusses an employer’s duty to investigate.Organizations without a robust system for investigating harassment complaints are exposing themselves to...

An Ontario Superior Court judgment awarding damages to a “revenge porn” victim demonstrates that legislative change is not necessarily the best path to justice, Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin tells AdvocateDaily.com.In the case, the court awarded $100,000 in...

After spending almost a decade at a Bay St. law firm, Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin has hung out her own shingle to continue her work assisting everyday people with their legal disputes.Although she's never worked in government, Mandin says she feels as...

Critics attacking the judge and justice system over a decision to allow the accused to present a drunkenness defence in a sexual assault trial are missing the point both legally and socially, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin. Mandin, founder of Mandin Law,...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford's new government has dug deep to find the rarely used parliamentary tools to quickly push through legislative change without having to draw up new bills, Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin tells Law Times.Usually, the provincial...

Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin tells Law Times she’s optimistic that last month’s enactment of Bill 139 will help balance a municipality’s power to make decisions with the province’s authority to step in.The bill, called the Building Better Communities and...

While the #MeToo and #TimesUp movement has made some people feel safer coming forward with sexual harassment allegations, it has also revealed a lack of understanding of what constitutes harassment and what is inappropriate in a workplace environment, says Toronto...

People planning to host a holiday party have legal responsibilities to ensure their guests stay safe, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.Mandin, principal of Mandin Law, says there are a few common-sense steps that hosts can take to mitigate liability."As a...

BY STEPHANY MANDINIn the landmark 2013 decision of Canada v Bedford, the Supreme Court of Canada declared that certain provisions of the Criminal Code, relating to the communication and engagement of prostitution, violated section 7 of the Charter of Rights and...

BY STEPHANY MANDINThe recent verdict in the Jian Ghomeshi trial has sparked a growing public debate around how Canada's justice system deals with sexual assault. On March 24, 2016, Ghomeshi was acquitted by the Ontario Court of Justice on four counts of sexual assault...

BY STEPHANY MANDIN The Ontario Consumer Protection Act, SO 2002, c 30, Sched A (the "CPA") specifies the financial disclosure obligations imposed on lenders in order to provide consumers with clear, transparent information about the details of their often complex...

A recently launched constitutional challenge to Ontario’s panhandling law has a better chance of success than a failed attempt more than a decade ago, says Toronto civil litigator Stephany Mandin.“The landscape has changed. We now have the benefit of almost two...

BY JEFF BUCKSTEIN Ontario is proposing major changes to the province’s Construction Lien Act to modernize the province’s construction lien and holdback rules, create a prompt payment system to ensure timely payment for contractors,...READ FULL...