Lior Samfiru - Samfiru Tumarkin LLP

Can texting habits in a workplace be cause for termination? Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru , Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, joined Global News Radio host Jill Bennett to discuss a recent termination for cause as a result of texting during a staff meeting.  Employment Issues? Before you call a lawyer, use the  Pocket Employment Lawyer  to calculate your potential severance package and find out if...

A recent controversy in the United States involving law enforcement officials has led to the firing of two police officers after posting and liking inappropriate comments on Facebook.  Should an employee be fired for their actions on social media?  Employment Lawyer Lior Samfiru , Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, joined Global News host Alan Carter to discuss the impacts of social media on employe...

Teenie Bikini Bistro in Kamloops, B.C. features pub-style food served by women wearing bikinis. Bistro co-owner Leeann Mcarthur says she has no specific hiring process, nor is it mandatory that those applying look a certain way or even be female. Is the Teenie Bikini Bistro's hiring process discriminatory? Employment Lawyer Lior Samfiru , Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, joined Morning Show hosts...

Ontario firefighter Adam Knauff alleges his human rights were violated when he was not provided sufficient vegan food while battling a massive blaze in B.C. The case centres on whether veganism is a form of creed – the definition of which was expanded by the Human Rights Tribunal in 2015 to include non-secular beliefs. Does Knauff have a legitimate case? Is veganism protected by the Ontario Human...

Drivers for ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft turned off their apps to protest what they say are a drop in wages while the companies continue to rake in billions of dollars from investors. Demonstrations took place Wednesday ahead of Uber's IPO, planned for Friday. Employment Lawyer Lior Samfiru , Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, joined host Jeff McArthur on Global News Radio 640 Toronto to discus...

Couriers working for food delivery service Foodora in Toronto are planning to unionize by joining the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). Foodora currently classifies couriers as independent contractors, which means they are covered under provincial labour protections, including EI, sick days and severance pay. Can Foodora couriers legally unionize if they aren't employees? Are Foodora courie...

Ontario employers’ duty to pay workers overtime just got a little lighter, following passage of a law that quietly reduces some protections around excess hours of work in the province. Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru , partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, joined host Bill Kelly on Global News Radio 900 CHML to discuss the changes that Bill 66 has introduced to employment law in the province. Employment...

Ontario Provincial Police deputy commissioner Brad Blair, who expressed concerns about a friend of the premier’s appointment as the province’s top cop, has been fired . Did the OPP have "just cause" to terminate Blair's employment? What are Blair's rights in this situation? Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru , partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, joined host Jeff McArthur on Global News Radio 640 Toronto...

Payless Shoes will soon be filing for creditor protection, ensuring that 2,400 employees in 248 stores across the country will find themselves without any severance pay as they struggle to find new employment elsewhere. As employment law firm Samfiru Tumarkin LLP noted when Sears Canada obtained creditor protection before closing its doors in early 2018, bankruptcy laws protect a struggling compan...

Payless Shoes will soon be filing for creditor protection, ensuring that 2,400 employees in 248 stores across the country will find themselves without any severance pay as they struggle to find new employment elsewhere. As employment law firm Samfiru Tumarkin LLP noted when Sears Canada obtained creditor protection before closing its doors in early 2018, bankruptcy laws protect a struggling compan...

A controversial clause found in Uber’s contracts for its Ontario drivers is illegal, “unconscionable” and “unenforceable”, the Ontario Court of Appeal declared in a decision  released today . The Arbitration Clause declares that all legal disputes between Uber and its Ontario drivers are to be heard in the Netherlands, rather than a local court. In its decision concerning  Heller v. Uber Technolog...

A number of Ottawa Senators openly joked about their penalty-killing abilities, mock one of their coaches and laugh at the ineffectiveness of special-team meetings in a candid video that was posted online. The video — since taken down — appeared to have been shot in Phoenix on Oct. 29 or 30 during the team’s western road swing, recorded, presumably by the Uber driver, Can an employee be punished f...

New labour reforms introduced by the Ford government do not give employers the ability to change terms of employment without consequences, says leading employment lawyer Lior Samfiru . Bill 47, also known as the Making Ontario Open for Business Act , passed first reading at Queen’s Park on Tuesday. The bill will change many aspects of Bill 148 (freezing minimum wage for 33 months, reversing...

The legalization of marijuana across Canada is just days away, yet many employers are not properly prepared for the realities and legalities surrounding employees and cannabis use. What are an employees rights to use of marijuana during and outside of work hours? What should employers do RIGHT NOW to ensure that they're ready for legalization on Wednesday, October 17th 2018? Employment lawyer Lior...

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is vowing to scrap Bill 148, the labour reform legislation brought in by the previous Liberal government that raised the province’s minimum wage and introduced a range of other worker protections. This declaration comes days after his government said the law was under review. Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru joined Global News Radio 640 Toronto's Mike Stafford and Supriya D...

What are an employer's righs when it comes to terminating an employee? When is a terminated employee owed severance pay? How much severance pay is that employee owed? What constitutes a dismissal for cause? Canadian employment lawyer Lior Samfiru was a guest on The Greg Carrasco Show on Global News Radio 640 Toronto, where he delved into workplace rights for employers and employees, and took live...

Her doctor says medical marijuana is the best treatment, but The Toronto Transit Commission has put the brakes on  subway operator Ellaine Farrell's use of cannabis. She must now resort to opioids. Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru joined Tasha Kheiriddin on 640 Toronto to discuss employee rights where marijuana is concerned. Employment Issues? Before you call a lawyer, use the  Pocket Employment Law...

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce is calling on Doug Ford's government to repeal Bill 148. The comprehensive labour reforms were introduced by the previous Liberal government, and saw minimum wage in the province raised to $14 an hour, with an increase to $15 an hour scheduled for 2019. Would an end to Bill 148 hurt employees in Ontario? Would the government be wise to keep the legislation in place?...

Skip The Dishes, a delivery service that brings food from restaurants to customers' doors, has been served a class-action lawsuit in Manitoba. Charleen Pokornik, who has been driving for the company since November 2016, filed a lawsuit on July 25 on behalf of drivers, arguing that the couriers should be classified as employees, and receive benefits like vacation, overtime and minimum wage. Skip Th...

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have released running back Jerome Messam after he was charged with voyeurism, the CFL says. A tweet from the Roughriders organization says Messam has been criminally charged after an incident in November 2016. Messam was playing for the Calgary Stampeders that year. A spokesperson for Calgary police said the charge "relates to the alleged video-taping of a consensual s...

The union representing striking workers at York University says the Ontario government's back-to-work legislation amounts to a "trampling" of employees' constitutional rights. The Doug Ford government introduced legislation to end the strike that has crippled the university for nearly five months. "Trampling workers' constitutional rights is difficult to stomach," said Devin Lefebvre, chairperson...

Hydro One’s six-million-dollar man is out the door. Premier Doug Ford promised during the election campaign that Hydro One CEO Mayo Schmidt would go, even if he had to replace the entire Hydro One board to get it done. Schmidt is retiring effective immediately, and will leave with the $400,000 severance package he is entitled to under Ontario labour law based on his time on the job, rather than th...

Ontario voters issued 38 pink slips to returning provincial Liberal MPPs, and will now pay millions in severance. Those departing MPPs are owed parting gifts of at least $6.1 million in total, the Toronto Sun estimates based on the MPPs’ 36 consecutive best earning months and years of service. Severance packages ranged from about $67,000 for a parliamentary assistant with four years or less experi...

University teaching assistant Lindsay Shepherd, who gained prominence after being disciplined for showing students a TV clip of controversial professor Jordan Peterson discussing gender-neutral pronouns is suing Wilfrid Laurier University for $3.6 million. In an unproven statement of claim filed this week, Shepherd says Wilfrid Laurier University behaved negligently, leaving her unemployable in ac...

Kalia Douglas-Micallef was eager to spend months, and possibly years, working at a Freshii location in Scarborough. But after only two days of training, she said she was fired because of her hearing impairment. Employment Lawyer Lior Samfiru told host Arlene Bynon on Global News Radio 640 Toronto what Kalia's rights are in this situation, and what her next course of action might be. Employment Iss...