Publications

May 16, 2017

When artificial intelligence is discriminatory

Artificial intelligence has undergone significant developments in the last few years, particularly in respect of what is now known as deep learning.1 This method is the extension of the neural networks which have been used for a few years for machine learning. Deep learning, as any other form of (…)

May 12, 2017

A physician refusing to follow a professional training course constitutes sufficient ground for an establishment to refuse to renew the physician’s status and privileges – TAQ confirms its decision

On March 29, 2017, the Tribunal administratif du Québec issued a decision1 (the “TAQ2 decision”) reviewing one of its own judgments (the “TAQ1 judgment”)2 which had confirmed the decision of a health establishment not to renew the privileges of a physician who had refused to follow a professional (…)

March 23, 2017

Artificial Intelligence and the 2017 Canadian Budget: is your business ready?

The March 22, 2017 Budget of the Government of Canada, through its “Innovation and Skills Plan” (http://www.budget.gc.ca/2017/docs/plan/budget-2017-en.pdf) mentions that Canadian academic and research leadership in artificial intelligence will be translated into a more innovative economy and (…)

February 21, 2017

Social media: when the court declares the evidence inadmissible

Social media sites, like Facebook, are inexhaustible sources of personal information which can constitute evidence in the context of employer-employee disputes. In matters related to evidence, the general rule is that any relevant evidence is admissible.1 Moreover, the courts have ruled that an (…)

January 23, 2017

First-aid course required by the ministère de la Famille: is the employer required to pay for the training time?

The Educational Childcare Regulation1 (the “Regulation”) requires every permit holder to ensure that each member of its childcare staff holds a certificate not older than 3 years which must have been obtained through the successful completion of an early childhood first-aid course of a minimum of 8 (…)

November 7, 2016

Put that perimeter in your pipe and smoke it: the imminent broadening of the prohibition on smoking within a nine-meter radius

On November 26, 2016, the new provisions of the Tobacco Control Act1 (the “Act”) will come into force. One of these provisions will considerably expand the scope of the rule which currently prohibits smoking within a nine-meter radius of any door leading to an enclosed place governed by the Act. (…)

November 7, 2016

Pay Equity Audits: The Québec Court of Appeal Renders its Decision

On October 12, 2016, the Québec Court of Appeal rendered an important decision dealing with pay equity,1 confirming the decision rendered on January 22, 2014 by the Honourable Édouard Martin of the Superior Court invalidating sections 76.3 and 76.5 of the Pay Equity Act2 (hereinafter, the “Act”) (…)

October 28, 2016

Bilingual candidate sought: The Court of Appeal clarifies the scope of this requirement in employment-related matters

Last January 18, Lavery published a Need to Know entitled “Knowledge of English as a requirement for employment: A Tower of Babel”, which considered a controversy in the case law surrounding the requirement of English as a condition of employment by employers in Québec. At the time, the authors (…)

October 4, 2016

Employer surveillance of employees: criteria and application in the age of social media¹

Several reasons may lead an employer to conduct surveillance on an employee, to have him followed without his knowledge and to observe his activities. Rumours that an employee absent from work for health reasons is engaged in activities that are incompatible with his alleged health condition, a (…)

August 10, 2016

Dismissal without cause under federal law: The Supreme Court of Canada closes the door

The case of Wilson v. Atomic Energy of Canada Limited1 came to a close on July 14, 2016, when the Supreme Court of Canada (the “Supreme Court”) reversed a controversial Federal Court of Appeal decision in which it had been held that a dismissal without cause was not necessarily an “unjust dismissal” (…)

August 4, 2016

The Canadelle case and the importance of contesting certain CNESST decisions promptly

On June 17, 2016, the Superior Court1 affirmed the 2014 decision of the Commission des lésions professionnelles2 (“CLP”) in Canadelle, s.e.c. and Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail.3 This decision put an end to the jurisprudential controversy regarding the application of sections 31 (…)

July 22, 2016

The lack of conclusive scientific evidence is not necessarily a fatal bar to proving causation in relation to an occupational disease, according to the Supreme Court of Canada

Last June 24th, the Supreme Court of Canada (the “Supreme Court”) rendered judgment in the case of British Columbia (Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal) v. Fraser Health Authority1 (“Fraser”). Briefly, this case involved seven laboratory technicians from the same hospital who had breast cancer. (…)

April 12, 2016

No indemnity for federal employees on preventive withdrawal

In December 2015, the Court of Appeal of Quebec in Éthier v. Compagnie de chemins de fer nationaux du Canada1 confirmed that section 36 of the Act Respecting Occupational Health and Safety (“AROHS”)2 does not apply to federal undertakings and that, accordingly, a worker who is pregnant or (…)