Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law - 2021 Edition

2021. Or 2020 version 2? I don’t know. 2021 was an interesting year with the pandemic absolutely a constant factor in everything we did, but also some return to normalcy.

In reviewing the decisions released this year, I was struck by how many of them actually had absolutely nothing to do with COVID. A fact that is somewhat hard to believe given its ubiquitous nature.

But, the point of this blog post is to consider what I consider to be the “Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law.” I have produced such a list since 2012:

• 2012
• 2013
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016
• 2017
• 2018
• 2019
• 2020

Here we go…

Top Three Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law - 2020 Edition

Twenty. Twenty. The year of 366 days, countless regulations and public health measures, myriad challenges and changes, but no Olympic games, and very few judicial decisions.

Since 2012, I have posted what I consider to be the “Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law:”

• 2012
• 2013
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016
• 2017
• 2018
• 2019

2020 being what it is – different – I am changing it up. This year, I am only posting the Top Three Decisions of Importance to Ontario Employment Law.

Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law - 2019 Edition

2019. What a year. In thinking about this post, I was hopeful that the title of this annual post was Top Five Decisions of Importance to Ontario Employment Law. Had the word been “decisions” and not “cases”, I might have mused about the various decisions some of us have made over the past year and how those decisions have impacted the Ontario employment law landscape. Oh well.

The point of this blog post, however, is to consider what I consider to be the “Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law”. I have produced such a list since 2012:

• 2012
• 2013
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016
• 2017
• 2018

As it is clearly evident that no one is getting any younger, here is this year’s list.

Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law - 2018 Edition

2018 has been, compared to some other years, relatively quiet with respect to employment law jurisprudence. Sometimes that can be a good thing.

The point of this blog post, however, is to consider what I consider to be the “Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law”. I have produced such a list since 2012:

• 2012
• 2013
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016
• 2017

And so, with another year coming to a close, it is once again time for this Ontario employment lawyer to provide his picks for the Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law!

Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law - 2017 Edition

2017 has been an incredibly busy year for Ontario employment law practitioners. In addition to the changes to the common law brought about by the decisions considered in this post, one would be foolish to omit any reference to the sweeping changes recently ushered in by the Wynne government as a result of the Fair Workplaces, Better Jobs Act, 2017, S.O. 2017 C.22 (“Bill 148”). Readers wishing more information about those legislative changes should consider this post: Bill 148 and Changes to the Employment Standards Act, 2000.

The point of this blog post, however, is to consider what I consider to be the “Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law”. I have produced such a list since 2012:

• 2012
• 2013
• 2014
• 2015
• 2016

And so, with another year coming to a close, it is once again time for this Ontario employment lawyer to provide his picks for the (trumpets, please)… Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law.

Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law - 2016 Edition

I have listed my “Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law” every year since 2012 (see: 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.) So, with another year coming to a close it is once again time for this Ontario employment lawyer to provide his picks for the Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law.

Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law - 2015

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I have listed my “Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law” every year since 2012 (see: 2012, 2013, 2014.) So, with another year coming to a close it is once again time for this Ontario employment lawyer to provide his picks for the Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law.

Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law - 2014 Edition

Since its inception in 2012, this blog has been naming its Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Law. The 2013 and 2012 editions are available by clicking the links.

In 2012, this blog named Jones v Tsige as the number case of importance to Ontario employment lawyers. This year’s decision in Evans v. The Bank of Nova Scotia (see: Employee's Invasion of Customer's Privacy can be Employer's Responsibility) demonstrates why that case was a reasonable pick.

In 2013, this blog named the decision of the HRTO in Fair v. Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board as the number case of importance for that year. This year’s decision from the Ontario Divisional Court upholding that decision (see: Appeals Court Upholds Employee’s Reinstatement 9 Years After Termination) received considerable attention from both interested and casual observers.

So, in a year that saw a number of much-discussed Supreme Court of Canada decisions, including a new approach to summary judgment and a statement that parties to a contract must execute their contractual obligations “honestly” what will take the top spot?

Ontario Employment Law’s Top Five Cases – 2013 Edition

Ontario employment lawyers had another interesting year with a number of provocative and interesting decisions coming from this country’s courts and administrative tribunals.

Continuing a tradition started last year on the law blog for the suddenly unemployed, (see Top Five Cases of Importance to Ontario Employment Lawyers 2012) it’s time again for me to name the top five cases of importance to Ontario employment law… at least according to me.