The first important decision arising from the Bill 168 amendments to the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) held that verbal threats of workplace violence constitute just cause to terminate a worker’s employment.

The Accessibilities for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) was originally introduced by the Ontario government in 2005. The AODA replaced the Ontarians with Disabilities Act of 2001, which was criticised for its lack of enforcement mechanisms, emphasis on voluntary compliance, and its application only to the public sector.

In a decision that will have far reaching implications for the Ontario resort and tourism industry, the divisional court of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has upheld an Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) decision that injuries to guests must be reported to the Ministry of Labour.

A second employer has now been convicted under the Bill C-45 amendments to the Criminal Code. Pasquale Scrocca, a landscape contractor in Québec, was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death with respect to a workplace incident resulting in the death of his employee, Aniello Boccanfuso. The judgment marks the first trial decision examining the OHS criminal negligence provisions under the Criminal Code.

In one of the most high profile workplace incidents of recent memory, both Occupational Heath and Safety Act and Bill C-45 criminal negligence charges have been laid against various workplace stakeholders. The tragic incident, involving the death of four workers, seemed heightened in both emotional and media coverage, because it happened on Christmas Eve 2009.