Potential Reprisal Complaint On The Horizon? Act Fast!

When an employee is terminated in acrimonious circumstances, employers may get the sense that litigation is on the horizon (especially where the employee declares as much on their way out the door!). Given the usual delays before civil litigation is commenced, and the leisurely pace that civil litigation proceeds at, employers justifiably may not take steps to prepare for that expected litigation right away, figuring that is tomorrow's problem (or, in this case, next year's problem).

However, where an employee may argue that they were terminated due to raising health and safety or workplace violence/harassment concerns, they have an avenue for redress open to them under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (Ontario) (the "OHSA") that proceeds much more quickly. What's more, as the recent decision of the Ontario Labour Relations Board (the "Board") in Andriana Kapsalis v. Silver Fox Pharmacy Inc., 2018 CanLII 108630 ("Kapsalis") demonstrates, the Board will be