Court Of Appeal Clarifies Collateral Benefits Issues
There has been a steady reduction in the damages that innocent motor vehicle accident victims recover from the at-fault driver. The Ontario Government, working with the insurance industry, has been passing more and more restrictive laws and regulations to cut down on damage awards to innocent accident victims. The Ontario Court of Appeal recently released […]
Change in Pre- Judgment Interest: Retroactive or Not?
We blogged about the change in the pre-judgment interest rate in March and April of this year. As of January 1, 2015, the Insurance Act was amended to provide that the 5% pre-judgment rate set out in the Rules of Civil Procedure does not apply in motor vehicle accident cases. As a result, pre-judgment interest […]
Fernandes v. Penncorp Life Insurance – long-term disability
In a recent decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal awarded a totally disabled man the sum of $236,773 in unpaid long-term disability benefits, $200,000 in punitive damages and $25,000 in damages for mental distress. This occurred when a disability insurance company refused to pay the man in the face of significant evidence of medical disability […]
Restrictive Covenants in Employment Contracts
A recent court decision reaffirmed that employers need to be careful when drafting restrictive covenants, commonly known as non-compete clauses. In a recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal, Mason v. Chem Trend Ltd. Partnership, 2011 ONCA 344, the court considered the enforceability of a restrictive covenant in an employment agreement and the need […]
Privacy Protection in Workplace
Privacy in the workplace requires a balance between employer and employee rights. A recent decision of the Ontario Court of Appeal has expanded privacy protections in the workplace by creating a new privacy tort. The decision has far reaching implications for privacy in the workplace. At paragraphs 67-68 of the decision, Justice Sharpe commented: […]
