Weekly recap – 20 Jan 2024
Company ordered to pay $1.5 million to settle alleged bid-rigging. Questions over digital assets linger. Smoking can be costly. Federal Court issues notice over generative AI.
LATEST
Human rights lawyers hail Quebec tribunal’s finding that pension provision is discriminatory
A legislative provision in the Act respecting the Quebec Pension Plan that financially penalizes disability claimants at age 65 was declared unconstitutional because it infringed the right to equality under the Canadian Charter.
Montreal lawyer disqualified as representative counsel in proposed cryptocurrency class action
A Montreal lawyer was disqualified as representative counsel in proposed cryptocurrency class action.
New trend in case law emerges dealing with work-related psychological trauma
A new trend in case law dealing with work-related psychological trauma has emerged over the past year that both clarifies the test dealing with workplace mental injury and will likely lighten the burden for employees to make their case, according to legal pundits.
Quebec municipal court reforms draw mixed reactions from legal community
A comprehensive legislative reform of the municipal court system recently introduced by the Quebec government has drawn mixed reactions, with the legal community applauding the initiative but equally concerned that it may undermine judicial and institutional independence of municipal courts.
Court’s approval of remediation agreement yields guidance but raises questions
A remediation agreement sanctioned by Quebec Superior Court, the second in Canada, sheds new guidance and fleshes out principles applicable to the unique regime but also raises concerns over the opaqueness of the process and the relatively hands-off approach by the court.
French-language law faculties grappling with new breed of generative AI tools
A year after the emergence of a new breed of generative artificial intelligence tools were thrust into public consciousness, French-language law faculties in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick are still grappling over its far-reaching potential impacts.
Decision may spur authorities to hold organizations accountable for workplace deaths
A “very important” decision may spur law enforcement officials and Crown prosecutors across the country to be more aggressive and hold to account organizations and decision-makers for workplace deaths.
Far-reaching decision addresses racial profiling in prisons
The Quebec Human Rights Tribunal ordered the Attorney General of Quebec and eight prison employees to pay a young black man $41,500 in moral and punitive damages in a decision deemed to be a major step forward in the recognition of racial profiling and the duty to accommodate in prisons.
Quebec Appeal Court seeks to avoid opening floodgates for claims against landlords, say experts
The Quebec Court of Appeal, concerned about opening the “floodgates” for claims against landlords, held that a commercial tenant could not invoke the notion of legal disturbance to stop paying their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quebec ruling ‘important step forward’ for labour rights
Quebec’s provincial police officers, dissatisfied with the progress of labour negotiations, will begin donning colourful cargo pants, a tactic that was given the green light by a ruling that recognizes the right to modify uniforms as an “associational activity” that could be protected by the Canadian Charter.