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Court of Appeal Key Decision with respect to latent defects when a property perishes
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The Court of Appeal issued an important decision in Axa Assurances inc. v. Immeubles Saratoga inc. concerning the extent of the seller's liability with respect to latent defects.
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Time granted to employees to vote
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By :
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There will be a provincial election on Monday, March 26, 2007. What obligations do you have to your employees to allow them to exercise their right to vote? Do you have to let them leave work early?
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Mandatory arbitration clauses in consumer contracts no longer valid
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Clauses in consumer contracts that make arbitration mandatory in the event of a dispute or that restrict a consumer’s right to join a class action are prohibited since December 14, 2006. Consumers are now at liberty to bring a class action if they have a claim regarding a merchant with whom they do business.
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Temporary employees usually cannot grieve a dismissal
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The Parry Sound decision rendered by the Supreme Court in 2003 appeared to have substantially broadened the jurisdiction of grievance arbitrators. Some contended that it went so far as to allow arbitrators to hear the grievances of temporary employees contesting a dismissal, even if the collective agreement did not give them the right to file a grievance. The Court of Appeal confirmed that employees with less than two years of uninterrupted service do not have this right, but it is expected to rule shortly regarding the situation of employees with more than two years of service.
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Christmas parties : What are the employer's obligations?
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By :
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Christmas parties! A wonderful opportunity to celebrate the end of a busy year and reward your employees for their loyalty and hard work: everything seems to be going well, the meal is delicious and the choice of music excellent, when suddenly an untoward incident ruins the whole atmosphere: an accident, harassment or overindulgence. As the employer, can you be held liable?
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The Court of Appeal starts to redress the balance: is this the death-knell for actions against ....
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The Court of Appeal has just rendered a much-anticipated decision, which confirms that an individual may institute a class action only against an entity with which he or she has a legal relationship, contractually or otherwise, and not against all other entities in the same industry.
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Anton Piller Orders : A poorly executed Order leads to disqualification of law firm
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In a recent case, the Supreme Court of Canada has outlined the requirements for seeking and executing Anton Piller orders, which allow a private search to be conducted of a defendant’s premises, without advance warning, for the purpose of gathering and preserving evidence. The Supreme Court’s judgment in this matter, which will no doubt become a seminal case, also establishes, for the first time, the possible consequences of the inadvertent disclosure of documents subject to solicitor-client privilege and the appropriate remedy.
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Union warfare has its price
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In a judgement of May 19, 2006, the Quebec Court of Appeal raised to over $1 million the total amount in principal and interest that a union affiliated with the CNTU will have to pay in damages to the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) (Québec City Transit Authority) with respect to a slowdown and illegal pressure tactics by the union in a true guerilla war against the employer.
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Liability for false and misleading information on the secondary market
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On December 31, 2005, the Province of Ontario adopted new provisions enabling investors to institute legal proceedings against corporations which allegedly have failed to respect secondary market disclosure obligations. Accordingly, a single misleading verbal statement containing false information, made in a public context by a corporate officer, may give rise to a claim.
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Danier Leather - Courts must give deference to senior management's business judgement
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Danier Leather: The rule concerning senior management’s business judgement was affirmed by the Court of Appeal for Ontario in a class action for factual misrepresentation in a prospectus.
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Shopping for jurisdiction
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Is Quebec a gateway for interprovincial and international class actions?
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First Decision on Psychological Harassment
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By :
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More than a year and a half after the creation of a claim for psychological harassment, and after thousands of complaints being filed, the Commission des relations de travail du Québec (CRT) has finally rendered its first decision on the topic which allowed an employee’s claim.
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Business Closings and Notice of Termination
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On January 27, 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered an important decision in the cases of Isidore Garon Ltée v. Tremblay, and Fillion et Frères (1976) inc. v. Syndicat national des employés de garage du Québec inc., regarding the notion of “notice of termination” provided for in the Civil Code of Québec.
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Major victory for LKD: Quebec Superior Court dismisses $3.8 billion class action suit
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On January 17, 2006, the Quebec Superior Court dismissed a motion to authorize a class action filed by Option Consommateurs against certain manufacturers of generic drugs. This was the largest class action for which authorization has ever been sought in Quebec. LKD represented one of the defendant manufacturers and convincingly pleaded one of the main arguments accepted by the Court.
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A disgruntled employee cannot file a class action
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Virtually no area of activity has been spared the increasing number of class action claims in recent years. Being sued in the context of a class action is costly, both financially and in terms of public relations. Indeed, businesses have good reason to fear being the target of this type of proceeding. The good news: the Quebec Superior Court has decided that labour relations issues cannot be decided via class actions.
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The Quebec parental insurance plan coming into force on January 1st 2006
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On March 1, 2005, the governments of Quebec and Canada signed an Agreement that establishes the conditions of application with regards to the Quebec Parental Insurance Plan (“RQAP”). As of January 1, 2006, the Quebec Government, under the supervision of the Ministère de l’Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale, will be responsible for managing the benefits granted upon the birth or adoption of a child.
The repercussions of the Act respecting parental insurance’s “R.S.Q”, Chapter A-29.011 (hereinafter, “Act”) coming into force are numerous.
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Expanded conflict rules for lawyers!
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On April 21, 2005, the Supreme Court of Canada has refused leave to appeal from a decision of the Quebec Court of Appeal that will have a significant impact on the practice of lawyers acting as underwriters' counsel in connection with public offerings of securities.
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The Piro case: The Court of Appeal expresses its views on the role of the authorization judge
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The Court of Appeal of Quebec has recently held that the modifications made in January 2003 to Article 1002 of the Code of Civil Procedure (C.C.P.) have no bearing on a defendant’s right to present a full and complete defence to a motion for authorization to institute a class action. In its reasons, the Court reiterates that the nature and object of a motion for authorization to institute a class action should not be confused with the nature and object of the class action itself. In the Court’s view, although the petitioner need not prove the facts upon which the motion is based, nothing prevents the judge from verifying that the conditions precedent to such an authorization, as specified in Article 1003 C.C.P., are met.
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