A Day in the Life of Today's Employment Lawyer: Fact Scenarios and Commentaries

• Author: Edited/Moderated by Rhonda Jansen, with Author/Panellists Catherine Peters, Melanie Reist, and Rusty McLay
• Pages: 147-163



ADayintheLifeofTodays

EmploymentLawyer

FACTS C E NA R I OSAN D C OM M E N TA R I ES

EditedModeratedbyRhondaJansen*

withAuthorPanellistsCatherinePeters

MelanieReistandRustyMcLay**

AFAC T S C E NA R IO 

 PartOne

Ahuman resources manager froma largec lientcallsA seniorfema le

managerJane hasbe ensexuallyi nvolvedwitha male employeewho

nowreportstoherThemaleemployeeDavehascomeforwardwithhis

storyDavehastoldthehumanr esourcesmanagert hatthetwost arted

anaai rwhen theywere colleaguesprior toher promotionDaveha s

wantedtoend therelationship formonthsa ndhasdeliveredt hatmes-

sagetoJaneonseveraloccasionsbutJanedoesnotwantittoendEvery

timeDavethi nksJaneu nderstandsshewill startinundati nghimw ith

BBMBlackBerryMessengermessages ontheir companyissuedBlack-

BerriesDaveisfearfu lforhisjob ifhecomplainstoo muchtoJanebut

the stress is geing to h im and he wants her to stop messaging him

orcommunicating withhim atall Thehuman resourcesmanager says

fromwhathehasse enofthemessagi nganexcessiveamounthas been

goingonbutafterworkhours

* RhondaJanseniss eniorcounselHum anResourcesLawTDBankGroup

** ForFactScenarioCatherinePeterspa rtnerHicksMorleyHami ltonStewart

StorieLLPTorontoforFactScenarioMelanieReistpa rtnerMorrisonRei st

KitchenerforFactScena rioRustyMcLayvicepresidentLegalandassoc iate

generalcounse lEmploymentResearchInMot ionLimitedWaterloo

RJCPMRRML

 PartTwo

Inthe same meeting Davedisclosed tothe humanr esourcesman ager

thathe recently received aser iesof tweets on his personal Twierac-

countfrom someonew iththe username daveandjaneThe tweets re-

vealedintimatedetail sofDavesrelationshipwithJaneandsomewere

verysexuallyexplicitThetweetsalsodrewanumberofrepliesfromin-

dividuals whoDaverecogn izedfromtheir userna mesashi scoworkers

andin somecaseswere retweetedDavefelthum iliatedbywhat hap-

penedandaskedwhetheranyactioncouldbetaken

 PartThree

Aclient calls aboutan employeewhohas comeforward after seeing a

Facebookposting in whicha manager referred tot woother managers

ashomosTheemployeewasoendedbythepostingandcomplained

toHumanResourcesaboutitTheemployeehadbeenaskedtwoweeks

previouslybythemanagerto behisFacebookfriendShewas reluctant

todosobutfeltrefusalcouldbedetrimentaltoheremployment

BCOMMENTARYONFACTSCENARIO

 PartOneDaveandJane

Dealing rstwith the issuebetweenDaveand Janethe scenario Dave

hasdescr ibedto thehuma nresources manager clearlyraises concerns

thathehasbeensubjecttosexua lharassmentcontrarytohumanrights

legislationa ndt hecl ientsantiharassment policyAlthough Dave has

told the human resources manager that hi s relationship with Jane was

consensualattheoutsethehasalsostatedthathehascommunicatedto

Janeseveraltimesthat hewouldlike therelationsh iptoendyet sheis

persistinginpursuingtherelationshipDavehasindicatedthatheisun-

comfortablewitht hesituationis concernedabouth isjobsec urityand

isndingt hesituationvery stressfulT heseareal lpotentialha llmarks

ofasexualharassmentsituation

Having been advised byDave that conduct which maycon stitute

sexual harassment isoccurring the client has an obligationto initiate

aninvestigationinto DavesconcernsIf theinvestigationcon rmsthat

conductcontrarytohumanrights legislationandortheclientsantiha-

ras sme ntpo lic yis occ ur ri ng the cl ient al soh asa nob liga tio nto tak ere a-

sonablestepstoaddressJanesconductandensurethatDaveisnolonger