Joseph K. Morrison
Partner Toronto, T: 416.869.2507 F: 416.862.8247 jmorrison@mathewsdinsdale.com
Monika Grabluk Assistant 416.862.8280 x254 mgrabluk@mathewsdinsdale.com
Biography
Law Society of Ontario
Law Society of Newfoundland
Dalhousie University, B.A. (Hons.)
Dalhousie University, LL.B.
Dalhousie University, M.P.A.
Canadian Bar Association
Ontario Bar Association
The Advocates’ Society
Joe is an experienced legal advisor and litigator who has been assisting employers in all areas of workplace law for over 20 years.
Joe represents provincially and federally regulated employers in a variety of sectors including: Mining, Manufacturing, Construction, Transportation, Aviation, Logistics, Retail, Financial Services, and Information Technology.
Joe has appeared as counsel in numerous hearings before Arbitrators, the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Canada Industrial Relations Board, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and Court of Appeal for Ontario, as well as the Federal Court of Canada.
He assists and represents employers on a broad array of matters including: compliance with Canadian employment and labour laws, wrongful dismissal actions, human rights complaints; grievance arbitrations, employment standards complaints; workplace investigations, unfair labour practice complaints; union organizing; applications for certification; unlawful strikes, judicial review and injunction proceedings.
Joe also has significant experience assisting corporate counsel and professional advisors with the employment and labour issues arising in M&A transactions and insolvency and restructuring proceedings pursuant to the BIA and CCAA.
Joe is a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Labour and Employment Law Section of the Ontario Bar Association. He is a regular Speaker in the Firm’s webinar series.
Representative experience
Successfully argued at the Ontario Labour Relations Board that contract miners ought to be included as employees pursuant to the Ontario Labour Relations Act, ultimately resulting in the dismissal of a certification application filed by the United Steelworkers at the Macassa Mine in Kirkland Lake
Successfully argued, by way of a judicial review proceeding at the Federal Court of Canada, that a federal labour inspector did not have constitutional jurisdiction over municipal bus drivers employed by an inter-provincial transportation company, resulting in the reversal of approximately 200 termination and severance pay awards
Successfully argued at the Ontario Court of Appeal that a union ought not to be granted leave to pursue a trustee in bankruptcy as a successor employer (pursuant to the Labour Relations Act) and therefore, not liable for any termination and severance payments
Provided strategic advice and guidance to in-house corporate counsel regarding the closure of a manufacturing facility in Ontario involving the mass termination of employees and potential directors and officers’ liability
Successfully argued at the Ontario Labour Relations Board that workers were not performing construction work underground, resulting in the dismissal of a certification application filed by the International Union of Operating Engineers against a Quebec-based contractor performing work at the Kidd Creek Mine
Provided advice and guidance to corporate counsel regarding the employment and labour issues arising in the purchase of a gold mining company by way of a reverse vesting order within a CCAA proceeding
Negotiated a cease and desist of secondary picketing at a mobile phone servicing and repair company that provided services to a multinational mobile phone manufacturer/retailer
Successfully defended a reprisal complaint pursuant to section 50 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act resulting in its dismissal by the Ontario Labour Relations Board
Provided advice and guidance on compliance with provincial employment standards legislation for a multinational retail company with operations in multiple provinces within Canada
Successfully argued at the Ontario Labour Relations Board that the stay of proceedings pursuant to the BIA ought to apply to a sale of business and/or related employer application filed against an interim receiver
Provided ongoing strategic advice and guidance to a major Canadian gold mining company in response to two successive union organizing campaigns by the United Steelworkers
Negotiated first collective agreements on behalf of several construction companies with various trade unions, including the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)
Negotiated the dismissal of charges against an employer pursuant to the Occupational Health and Safety Act following a fatality at an airport facility
Successfully defended a complaint against an employer for unpaid termination and severance pay on the basis that the employee had committed theft resulting in the dismissal of the complaint by the Ontario Labour Relations Board
Presentations
Restructuring Unionized Environments: Sale, Transfer or Closure of the Business/ The Law of Industrial Conflict/Workplace Privacy
Instructor at the Osgoode Certificate in Labour Law program
Webinars
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