Human Rights Conference 2013


Course Date: November 28, 2013

Course Agenda ▼

Day 1: Thursday, November 28, 2013

Welcome and Introduction

Sandra F. Guarascio — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
Lindsay M. Lyster — Moore Edgar Lyster, Vancouver

Mental Disorder Provisions of the WCA and OHS Workplace Bullying and Harassment Policies

  • overview of scope of compensable mental disorder claims—legislation and policies
  • trends and guidance from the compensation claims cases
  • jurisdictional issues
  • employer, employee, and union perspectives on dealing with mental disorder claims
  • OHS bullying and harassment prevention policies—requirements, perspectives, and practical tips

Peter Eastwood — Hamilton Howell Bain & Gould, Vancouver
Catherine A. Sullivan — British Columbia Government & Service Employees’ Union, Vancouver
Marino J. Sveinson — Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break 

Current Issues in Discrimination: Is it Time to Move Beyond Meiorin?

  • a review of the Meiorin approach to proof of prima facie discrimination/accommodation

Nitya Iyer — Lovett Westmacott, Vancouver
Stanley N.E. Lanyon, QC — Arbitrator/Mediator, Stan Lanyon Law Corporation, New Westminster

Case Law Update

  • key cases
  • analysis, impact, and effects
  • trends

Christopher M. McHardy — McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Vancouver
Ryley M. Mennie — McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Vancouver

Networking Lunch

Working with Challenging Litigants

  • identifying and understanding challenging litigants
  • practical and ethical issues arising when dealing with challenging and or self-represented litigants
  • practical tips for dealing with challenging and/or self-represented litigants
Dr. Hugues Hervé, PhD, RPsych — Director of Consulting Services, The Forensic Alliance, Port Moody
David Hill — City of Vancouver–Legal Department, Vancouver
Lindsay Waddell — Community Legal Assistance Society, Vancouver

Reconciling Competing Interests: Fuming Over Smoking Complaints in Strata and Residential Housing

  • theoretical case study
  • legislative framework
  • evidentiary issues: is the disability exacerbated by second-hand smoke exposure?
  • reasonable accommodation: comparison of tools available in multi-living dwellings

Seema Lal — Shapiro Hankinson & Knutson, Vancouver
Vanessa L. Reakes — Shapiro Hankinson & Knutson, Vancouver

Networking Break

Ethics Fact Patterns

  • what would/should you do?
  • discussions in context

Master Heather M. MacNaughton — Supreme Court of BC, Vancouver
Lindsay M. Lyster — Moore Edgar Lyster, Vancouver
Gabriel M.A. Somjen — Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, Vancouver

Closing Questions and Comments


Day 2: Friday, November 29, 2013

Welcome and Introduction

Sandra F. Guarascio — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
Lindsay M. Lyster — Moore Edgar Lyster, Vancouver

Judicial Review of BC Human Rights Tribunal Decisions

  • review and update of significant BC Supreme Court, BC Court of Appeal, and Supreme Court of Canada cases

Jessica Connell — British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, Vancouver 
David G. Wong — Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver

Information and Privacy in Disability Management Programs

  • what types of personal/medical information are unionized employers entitled to under these programs?
  • nature and content of consent forms authorizing the collection, use, and disclosure of employee information
  • arbitral analysis and Human Rights Code analysis

Jonathan Chapnick — Legal Counsel, Hospital Employees’ Union, Burnaby
Adriana F. Wills — Harris & Company LLP, Vancouver

Networking Break

“On the Street” and Social Condition Discrimination

  • creative approaches to addressing day-to-day experiences of discrimination
  • preventing a gap in access to justice for cases that don’t “fit” the Code
  • “social condition” as a prohibited ground of discrimination

Sarah J. Rauch — Director and Supervising Lawyer, UBC First Nations Legal Clinic, Vancouver
Laura Track — Legal Director, West Coast Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund, Vancouver

Lunch with Featured Speaker: "Advocacy and Human Rights"

The Honourable Anne L. Mactavish — Federal Court, Ottawa

Dismissal Cases: New Decisions

  • which cases were successfully dismissed and why or why not?
  • principles coming out of the cases

Jennifer R. Devins — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
Robyn Durling — British Columbia Human Rights Coalition, Vancouver
Kathleen Smith — British Columbia Human Rights Coalition, Vancouver

Networking Break

Grounds Panel: Retaliation

Tom Beasley — Bernard LLP, Vancouver
Daniel Bertrand — Koskie Glavin Gordon, Vancouver
Craig T. Munroe — Heenan Blaikie LLP, Vancouver

Closing Questions and Comments

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