James A. Renaud

The plaintiff moved for default judgment against the defendant landlord for damages arising from a slip and fall on black ice in a parking lot.

The defendant was noted in default and deemed to admit liability.

The court assessed general damages at $80,000 for knee injuries requiring surgery.

The court also awarded damages for loss of income, but deducted sickness absence benefits received by the plaintiff under his collective agreement, finding the private insurance exception to the rule against double recovery did not apply because the plaintiff failed to prove he contributed to the benefits.

The defendant university brought a motion to dismiss the plaintiff's representative action, arguing that the court lacked jurisdiction and the dispute should be resolved by a labour arbitrator.

The plaintiff alleged the defendant failed to share savings from the Employment Insurance Premium Reduction Program with employees.

The court applied the Weber test and found that the essential character of the dispute did not arise from the collective agreement, but rather from the defendant's alleged failure to comply with the Employment Insurance Act.

The motion to dismiss was denied.

A long‑term employee brought an action for wrongful dismissal and discrimination under the Human Rights Code after being terminated for making threatening remarks toward coworkers when leaving the workplace following a disciplinary meeting.

The employee argued that the threats were the result of an undisclosed mental disability and that the employer should have investigated and accommodated him rather than terminating his employment.

The court held that the employer had no knowledge of the employee’s psychiatric condition at the time and was not required to diagnose or infer a disability.

Given the seriousness of the threats, which constituted workplace violence, the employer was entitled to terminate the employee for just cause in order to protect other staff.

The court concluded that the Human Rights Code did not shield the employee from the consequences of serious misconduct unrelated to any known disability.