GlickLaw

08/29/2023

Thrilled to share the exciting news: GlickLaw has once again been recognized and named to the prestigious Best Lawyers list for 2024! 🎉🏆 It's an honour to be acknowledged for our dedication to excellence in the legal field. We remain committed to serving our clients with the utmost care and expertise. Thank you for your continued trust and support!

08/25/2023

Employers – How To Respond To An Accommodation Request
By Lisa Feinberg

Employers know that they need to accommodate their employees to the point of undue hardship under the Human Rights Code. However, employers may find it challenging to implement accommodations in practice. Below are some tips to help employers accommodate their employees respectfully, while ensuring that their business does not suffer.

1. Have an accommodation policy: By creating an accommodation policy, you can set out for your employees who they should be contacting to seek accommodation and what they need to provide them. With a policy, you do not need to reinvent the wheel every time an accommodation issue arises.

2. Do not be afraid to ask for relevant information and documentation: If an employee requests accommodation but provides no supporting documentation or does not clarify what they need to be accommodated, do not hesitate to ask your employee for the information you need. Accommodation is a two-way street and often involves a back and forth about what is needed.
3. Do not ask for irrelevant information: The accommodation process must however be respectful of the employee’s privacy. For example, employers are not entitled to ask for an employee’s diagnosis; instead, they may ask about the employee’s limitations and restrictions that necessitate the accommodation.

Read full article at:

https://glicklaw.ca/employers-how-to-respond-to-an-accommodation-request-by-lisa-feinberg/

08/10/2023

Jordan Stone and Jordan Glick will be speaking on October 16-18, 2023 at The CNAR Conference being held in Vancouver.

Jordan Stone will moderate the session titled "Freedom of Speech or Professional Breach? Regulating Professionals' Speech and Conduct Outside of the Workplace". This will be held on October 18th at 11am.

Jordan Glick will present a PechaKucha titled "A Regulatory Prophecy, with an Assist from ChatGPT". This will be held on October 18th at 2:30pm.

For more information and registration please visit: http://cnar2023.cnar-rcor.ca/

08/02/2023

Employers – What to do (and not do) at a Termination Meeting:

1. Review your employment contract: Employment contracts generally set out what the employee can expect to receive if they are dismissed. However, in the last few years, the Courts have released decisions that have rendered many employment contracts unenforceable. Contact your employment lawyer to determine whether your contract is enforceable, and if not, what the appropriate severance package should be.

2. Be human rights aware – Employers have an obligation to respect the human rights of their employees. Be aware that if your employee has recently come back from a medical or parental leave or raised accommodation or discrimination concerns, you may have a human rights issue to consider prior to the termination of their employment.

3. Do not assert cause without legal advice: It is very difficult to prove cause for termination of employment. If cause is alleged by the employer and is found not to exist, the employer can be liable for increased damages.

Read full article at:

https://glicklaw.ca/employers-what-to-do-and-not-do-at-a-termination-meeting-lisa-feinberg/

Lawyers for Professionals and Licensees

Counsel to Regulators

Strategic advice and advocacy in Reg

07/27/2023

The Covid-19 pandemic forced regulators to hold hearings online. Now that the pandemic no longer restricts face-to-face interaction, some regulators are grappling with whether to return to in-person appearances. While the courts have reverted to a presumption of in-person trials, few regulators have followed. In this article, I will review some of the considerations behind the choice of online or in-person hearings for contested matters, including issues of costs, access and inclusion, fairness, and user experience. From this analysis, I hope to encourage tribunals to make in-person hearings the default for contested matters.

The article covers the following in more detail:
✅ 1. Costs
✅ 2. Access and Inclusion
✅ 3. Fairness
✅ 4. User Experience

Read full article at:
https://www.glicklaw.ca/a-50-self-interested-somewhat-empirical-plea-for-in-person-contested-hearings-jordan-glick/

06/09/2023

In the wake of the movement, regulators are receiving an increasing number of complaints of sexual misconduct against registrants.[1] These complaints often do not settle. In the face of mandatory revocation, registrants usually contest these allegations, regardless of the cost consequences. These complaints are also factually and legally complex. Investigating and prosecuting these files requires not only knowledge of complex evidentiary rules but also a trauma-informed approach to complainant management. The focus of this article is to offer regulators some trauma-informed tools to support vulnerable complainants to successfully participate in disciplinary proceedings.

⭐ What is a Trauma-Informed Approach to Professional Discipline Proceedings?

The article covers the following in more detail:


✅ 1. Early and Open Communication
✅ 2. Avoid Assumptions or Stereotypes
✅ 3. Testimonial Accommodations and Publication Bans
✅ 4. Avoid Questions about Past Sexual History

Read full article at:
https://glicklaw.ca/tools-for-a-trauma-informed-approach-to-prosecuting-sexual-misconduct-matters-lisa-feinberg/

05/19/2023

Lunch & Learn - Human Rights in the Clinic: How can Therapists meet their Duty to Accommodate Clients (October 11, 2023)

Like all service providers, mental health professionals are required to meet their obligations under human rights legislation when offering services to clients. Generally, mental health professionals are trained to put clients first and are able to adapt their service to their clients’ needs. However, challenging scenarios can come up that may be more difficult to navigate. For example, what do you do if your clinic is not physically accessible for all clients? Are you able to advertise your services to one gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, nationality and so forth? Are you able to refuse clients based on gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, nationality and so forth? What do you do if your client’s mental health issues interferes with their ability to diarize appointments and they repeatedly cancel on you? What about if your client is verbally or even physically abusive to you due to their mental health issue?

In this session, professional regulation and workplace lawyer Lisa Feinberg will review basic human rights principles, including your obligation to accommodate client’s human rights related needs to the point of undue hardship. Ms. Feinberg will then facilitate a discussion about several fact scenarios, applying human rights principles to these scenarios.

👩 Lisa Feinberg:
Lisa Feinberg is a professional regulation and workplace lawyer with GlickLaw LLP. She acts as an advisor and advocate for professionals, drawing upon her wide-ranging experiences as a prosecutor, defense counsel, and adjudicator. She regularly appears before administrative tribunals and courts on professional discipline, human rights, and employment matters.

Register with link:
https://crm.ccpa-accp.ca/public/event/details/0604d263d04bdabcd96bef9f478286fc92d9099e/1

05/11/2023

Jordan Glick and Jordan Stone successfully represented the Retirement Homes Regulatory Authority in an application to close an unlicensed retirement home. Read the full decision here:

https://tinyurl.com/ytmtub4u

05/02/2023

Lunch & Learn - Hanging up Your Own Shingle: Your Professional Obligations When You Start a New Practice (September 12, 2023)

You decide to start your own counselling practice or work as an independent contractor. What do you say to your existing clients? Can you self refer clients? How much notice do you have to give your current employer? What do you do with your records for your clients from your previous practice? How can (and can’t) you advertise your services? What fees can (and can’t) you charge to your clients? What records do you need to keep of your sessions? What do you do if ethical issues arise in your independent private practice? In this interactive presentation, professional regulation and workplace lawyer Lisa Feinberg will engage audience members in a lively discussion on how to handle these and other challenges.

👩 Lisa Feinberg:
Lisa Feinberg is a professional regulation and workplace lawyer with GlickLaw LLP. She acts as an advisor and advocate for professionals, drawing upon her wide-ranging experiences as a prosecutor, defense counsel, and adjudicator. She regularly appears before administrative tribunals and courts on professional discipline, human rights, and employment matters.

Register here: https://crm.ccpa-accp.ca/public/event/details/9d44be7b37e2ca730c1c51053ba5aeddd09f5c56/1

04/19/2023

Jordan Stone successfully represented the Ontario College of Teachers in responding to an appeal of a reinstatement hearing decision in Grimstead v Ontario College of Teachers. The decision focuses on whether amendments to the Ontario College of Teachers Act could be given retrospective effect.

Read the full decision here: https://tinyurl.com/5xf5frj2

04/17/2023

Jordan Glick will be co-presenting with Rebecca Zaretsky and Laura Hutchinson as faculty for the Osgoode Certificate in Professional Regulation and Discipline.

This intensive program will explore issues by providing perspectives from all parties involved in the process. It is crucial to have the skills, knowledge and insight needed in this highly specialized field.

What You'll Learn:
⭐ How the regulatory process work
⭐ The rights and duties of the health regulatory colleges and its members during an investigation
⭐ Tips on how to draft a strong and comprehensive investigation report
⭐ Strategies for dealing with various pre-hearing procedures, including motions and pre-hearing conferences
⭐More...

This program is a must for anyone in the health law or professional regulatory space. If you would like to know more feel free to email [email protected].

Register and reserve your spot - https://osgoodepd.ca/healthsector