Newsletters

When drafting this introduction to our newsletter capping the first six months of 2021, I realized that, while we were adjusting our services to maintain RSS’s standards during the last year and a half, we went significantly beyond what used to be our “business as usual” mode. Actually, our business is growing, and our dedicated Insurance […]

From time to time, judgments are rendered in other provinces in Canada which require our attention here in Quebec. The recent judgment by the Divisional Court of Ontario in Hawkes v. Max Aicher (North America) Limited, 2021 ONSC 4290 (Can LII), is one such case. It is not at all peculiar to find companies operating […]

Although the Canadian Human Rights Act recognizes the right to pay equity, wage differences between men and women still exist. Such was the focus of the Pay Equity Act [the Act], adopted by the federal Parliament on December 13, 2018, and the accompanying Pay Equity Regulations, which will implement a proactive pay equity regime applicable […]

On May 20, 2021, the Court of Appeal, in the case of Ville de Mascouche c. Architectes Rivest-Jodoin & Associé, 2021 QCCA 859 affirmed the decision of the Superior Court (2019 QCCS 1996) which granted a motion to dismiss on the grounds of prescription. The City of Mascouche [City] hired Anjalec Construction inc. [Anjalec] in […]

The Superior Court recently rendered an interesting decision in Dang c. Industrielle-Alliance, assurance auto et habitation inc., 2021 QCCS 1408, emphasizing the importance for the insured to give a thorough declaration of the risk to the insurer. In this case, the plaintiff was asking her insurer for an indemnity following a fire that had damaged […]

In Construction Placo inc. c. Kingspan Insulated Panels Ltd., 2021 QCCS 1230, rendered on March 18, 2021, Construction Placo inc. [Placo], as cross-defendant, sought an order from the Court requesting Société d’assurance générale Northbridge [Northbridge] to assume its defence and to pay all costs associated with its defence within the scope of the cross-claim. In […]

In Pelletier c. Gauthier (Decision issued April 13, 2021 by the Honourable Jocelyn Pilote, j.c.s., C.S. – 150-17-004304-207), defendants Gauthier et Simard filed a Wellington application against Intact Compagnie d’assurance and Desjardins Assurances générales as impleaded parties, requesting only the right to select their lawyer. Defendants were sued on the basis of alleged latent defects […]

“The Port of Montreal’s longshoremen have been without a contract since December 2018.” Throughout successive labour disputes, including the current one between the Maritime Employers Association and the longshoremen of the Port of Montreal, you have probably already read or heard in the news a statement that unionized employees have been “without a contract” since […]

Is an insurer compelled to release to its insureds all documents, especially expert reports, used to substantiate a decision to deny coverage? In Gauvreau c. Promutuel Assurance, 2020 QCCAI 347, two insureds had filed a claim with their insurer following an incident in which their boat had been damaged. The insurer denied coverage. The insureds […]

It is well known that a major part of labour law consists of balancing the rights and interests of the employer with those of the employees. One of the evolving and topical aspects of this balancing act is the question of the employer’s power of direction versus the employee’s right to privacy. The right to […]