The use of social media is now a fact of life, but many employers are struggling to keep up with the consequences of rapid technological change.Technology develops fast: it is hard to believe that Twitter has only been with us since 2006. The law moves more slowly and regulating new employee behaviours within the existing legal framework can be a challenge ...
In an article published in the 09 August 2012 issue of Law Technology News, lawyer and media consultant Robert J. Ambrogi of Massachusetts gave some tips to keep social networking in line with ethics. First, remember that the same rules apply. Blogs, social networks, Twitter, and the like remain relatively new forms of media, but the same old ethical rules apply. Second, do not betray client confidences ...
On May 14, 2012, the Honourable Normand Gosselin, J.S.C., ruled on an amended motion seeking the sanction of a plan of arrangement concerning a debtor, Norgate Metal Inc. ("Norgate").1 The judgment is special in that Norgate asked the court to annul some of the votes that had been cast against the plan of arrangement. Norgate submitted that the only reason why the creditors who cast those votes had voted against the plan was that they wished to eliminate a competitor from their industry ...
On August 30, 2011, Hart Stores Inc./Magasins Hart inc. ( hereinafter “Hart”), filed for protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (hereinafter the “CCAA”). As part of the restructuring, Hart closed down 32 out of 92 points of sale and laid off 640 out of 1,600 employees. Included in the lay off are five executives, who are the subject of this bulletin.The executives were all laid off by means of a simple notice of termination ...
Temporary Suspension of the Definition of Pension Plans (employees' deductible expenses) as those approved by the “Corresponding Authority” Provisional Suspension of mandatory use of Banking System to evidence Payments and Disbursements of Expenses Higher than Q.30,000 ...
With election fever in full swing, you might expect governing to take a back seat to politics. However, on September 28, 2012, President Obama signed Senate Bill 3245 into law. Senate Bill 3245 renews four U.S. Department of Homeland Security-administered programs, including E-Verify and the EB-5 Regional Center program. As such, both programs have been extended by three years from their original termination dates of September 30, 2012 to September 30, 2015 ...
On October 17, 2012, there was published in the Federal Official Gazette an executive order issuing the Federal Act to Prevent and Identify Illegally-Funded Transactions. The purpose of the Act is to track and investigate activities and transactions involving resources illegally obtained ...
On Aug. 31, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its decision in In re Charter Communications Inc., (2d Cir. Aug. 31, 2012), expressly adopting an abuse of discretion standard for reviewing equitable mootness determinations ...
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) recently fined an organisation £250,000 fter its outsourcing vendor carelessly dumped confidential financial data in ublic recycling bins. This incident provides a stark reminder to organisationsthat they remain legally responsible for personal data, even where they utsource data processing activities to third parties ...
Last summer, North Carolina adopted into law "An Act to Require Counties, Cities and Employers to Use the Federal E-Verify Program to Verify the Work Authorization of Newly Hired Employees" (the "Act"). What this means to private employers is that depending on the size of your workforce, you may be required to use the E-Verify program for all hiring. Effective October 1, 2012, all North Carolina employers with more than 500 employees must use the E-Verify program ...
Over the course of 2012, on at least three occasions the Federal Circuit has found anticipation in a situation in which previously the invention would have merely been viewed as obvious:(1) where the prior art merely proposes the steps of the method, without knowledge of whether those method steps will achieve any result, much less the result claimed in the therapeutic method; (2) where the prior art discloses a broader range without providing a “pattern of preference” for a later-claimed narrow
Quebec Law has for a long time distinguished the personal guarantor from the real guarantor: a personal guanrantor is personally bound to repay a creditor should the principal debtor fail to perform its obligations; a real guarantor does no more than give some of its assets as collateral to a creditor, and unlike a personal guarantor, is not personally bound to repay the loan granted to the principal debtor ...
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act" or the "Act") attempts to sort through the energy trading and hedging market to protect "commercial end users" from new regulatory burdens intended for trading firms and financial institutions ...
While arbitration offers an excellent means for parties to get their disputes settled faster than in traditional courts, how you draft the arbitration clause in a document is critically important for a positive outcome – should a dispute arise. Legal agreements often have a clause indicating that parties agree to settle any disputes arising from the arrangement in arbitration ...
Contents: The Application for Rectification by the Court Is Not a Cure for all Ills: Prevention is Better than (Attempting!) a CureRegister your Trade-marks!; The Importance of Having a Detailed Power of Attorney in the Event of a Person’s IncapacityEffect of a Unanimous Shareholders’ Agreement on CCPC Status THE APPLICATION FOR RECTIFICATION BY THE COURT IS NOT A CURE FOR ALL ILLS: PREVENTION IS BETTER THAN (ATTEMPTING!) A CURELast June 19, the Superio
On June 14, 2012, the Quebec Court of Appeal confirmed the validity of the second paragraph of section 56 of the Act Respecting Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases1 (hereinafter the “AIAOD” or the “Act”)2. Although this paragraph establishes a distinction based on age, the Court of Appeal is of the opinion that it is neither invalid nor discriminatory. The Court came to this conclusion in particular because the appellant, Mr ...
Outsourcing has for years been gaining popularity. Together with an increase in the number of businesses, their branches, subsidiaries as well as capital groups, increasing attention is drawn to the costs of their operations. Such activities as personal, payroll, procurement, IT, or back office in the case of financial institutions are unnecessarily duplicated in the case of companies in a capital group or generate greater costs than if carried out by an external specialized firm ...
As the U.S. involvement in conflicts around the world continues to draw down, hundreds of thousands of veterans are returning to the civilian work force. In fact, more than 100,000 troops are estimated to return to the workforce in the next three years. Many of these service members were employed in the private sector prior to their military service. The Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”), 38 U.S.C. § 4301 et seq ...
The Centers for Disease Control has ranked West Virginia as having the third highest percentage of obese adults in the United States, and the percentage of obese adults in Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania rival that of West Virginia. Such a high percentage of overweight adults renders the possibility that obesity could become a protected class, and thus could become an issue to all employers ...
The United States Supreme Court has recently armed employers with two new defenses while settling an issue that may otherwise have been of fairly limited direct interest to most employers. The Court resolved a recent circuit split – the issue was largely resolved until 2009 regarding whether pharmaceutical representatives qualified as outside salesmen under the Fair Labor Standards Act ...
A number of laws and regulations have been promulgated in the past few years to introduce a series of changes to the PRC Labour Law, among which the key legislations are the PRC Labour Contract Law effective on 1 January 2008 and its detailed implementing regulations effective on 18 September 2008 ("Laws") ...
The employer, Centre Jeunesse de Montreal - University Institute (Hereinafter the "Centre") adopted a dess code as well as a piercings, tattoos and personal appearance policy for its employees (Hereinafter the "Policy") Although the validity of the policy was contested by the CANADIAN UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, local 4268 (Hereinafter the "Union"), the arbitrator, Mr ...
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) and the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) are currently consulting on changes to the definition of type 9 regulated activity that will affect all Hong Kong asset managers who use over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives in their portfolios. The consultation ends on 31 August. We encourage you to read the consultation paper ...
On August 9, 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada granted the application for leave to appeal filed by Vivendi Canada Inc. against the decision rendered in February 2012 by the Québec Court of Appeal. This decision authorized Mr. Michel Dell’Aniello to bring a class action against Vivendi Canada Inc. in connection with revisions made unilaterally by Vivendi Canada Inc. to the group medical insurance benefits plan for retirees ...
