Workers Now Eligible for WSIB Benefits for Chronic Mental Stress and Workplace Harassment

On May 17, 2017, the Stronger, Healthier Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2017, S.O. 2017 C.8 , formerly Bill 127, received Royal Assent. That act, which was omnibus legislation, amended no fewer than 48 statutes, including the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997. This post will focus on the changes to that statute.

Pursuant to Schedule 33 of the Stronger, Fairer Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2017, employees eligible for Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (“WSIB”) benefits, are now eligible to make claims for “chronic or traumatic mental stress arising out of and in the course of the worker’s employment”

On December 14, 2017, the Stronger, Fairer Ontario Act (Budget Measures), 2017, S.O. 2017 C.22, formerly Bill 177, received Royal Assent. That act, which was also omnibus legislation, amended no fewer than 110 statutes, including the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997. This statute further amended the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 with respect to claims for chronic or traumatic mental stress.

No Aggravated Damages Absent Evidence of Mental Distress: Divisional Court

(c) istock/MarkLevant

Can a trial court award aggravated damages to an employee who claims wrongful dismissal absent a finding of actual mental distress being suffered by that employee? That was the question answered by the Honourable Mr. Justice Robert N. Beaudoin, sitting as a judge of the Ontario Divisional Court, in the case of Walker v Hulse, Playfair and McGarry, 2017 ONSC 358 (CanLII).

Moral Damages for Manner of Dismissal - Meeting the Evidentiary Burden

How much medical evidence must a party seeking damages for mental stress caused by the manner of his or her dismissal from employment, i.e. moral damages or “Wallace” damages, lead at trial in order to receive an award of the same? As with most answers in law, it would appear that the answer is “it depends.” In a recent ruling from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice sitting at Ottawa, El-Hawary v. 1202827 Ontario Inc, 2014 ONSC 5265 (CanLII), the Honourable Justice Timothy Ray held that moral damages were not appropriate without medical evidence as to the cause of the plaintiff’s suffering.

Wal-Mart Rolls Back Award of Punitive Damages

In a decision released earlier this week, the Court of Appeal for Ontario reduced an award of punitive damages against a Wal-Mart manager from $150,000 to $10,000, and against Wal-Mart itself from $1,000,000 to $100,000. In the same decision, however, the court upheld the award of $100,000 in damages for intentional infliction of mental suffering against the manager, and the award of $200,000 in aggravated damages against Wal-Mart.