Law Times

Page 16 November 6, 2017 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com LAWYER SETTLES COMPLAINT AGAINST LSUC The Law Society of Upper Canada has settled a dispute with a black lawyer who alleged a secu- rity guard racially profiled him. Selwyn Pieters submitted a complaint to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario last year after claiming he was stereotyped by a guard working at the door to the law society. The hearing into the matter was set to begin Oct. 31, but Pieters and the law society reached a settlement the night before. "The parties have decided that it would be in everyone's interest to resolve this dispute amicably," the law society and Pieters said in a joint statement. In his complaint, Pieters had claimed that a security guard had stopped him as he tried to enter the law society in July 2016 wearing shorts and a T-shirt. When Pieters presented his identification card, which was expired, he claimed the security guard grabbed it and denied him access. Piet- ers then went across the hall to obtain a renewed card in order to enter. The lawyer claimed that there were a number of white members who entered immediately before him, facing no scrutiny, and that he was treated differently because of race. The law society had denied the allegations. Pieters sought $75,000 in damages and requested the tribunal or- der the law society to provide further anti-black racism training to its staff. The lawyer says he expects the LSUC's security staff will now treat members and the public with dignity and respect when they en- ter the building. MAG INTRODUCES NEW BAIL POLICY The provincial government has unveiled a new bail policy for Ontario's Crown attorneys in the hopes of making the process fairer and more efficient. The new directive will come into effect on Nov. 14 and is part of a larger initiative the province launched to cut back on court delays. The issue has gained in- creased urgency since the Su- preme Court of Canada im- posed strict new deadlines on the length of criminal cases in its 2016 decision in R. v. Jordan. The new policy instructs Crowns to consider the least restrictive bail conditions that meet any concerns about releas- ing the accused and to only seek a surety if every lesser form of re- lease has been considered. PROVINCE APPOINTS NEW JUDGES The provincial government has appointed two new judges to the Ontario Court of Justice. David Berg and Allan Brown will join the court on Nov. 8 and will both preside in Ottawa. The ministry of the attorney general also promoted Ontario Court Justice Marvin Kurz to serve on the Superior Court in Milton, Ont. 16 % NO, I DO NOT AGREE YES, I AGREE 84 % LAW TIMES POLL A recent Law Times column says the Canadian Border Ser- vices Agency has the authority to look at anything lawyers do on their electronic devices at the U.S.-Canada border. Readers were asked if they are concerned about this. Roughly 84 per cent said yes, they have concerns their privacy or the privacy of their clients could be violated. The remaining 16 per cent said no, this is not a big concern for them. LT u Bizarre Briefs By Viola James u The InsIde story Selwyn Pieters has settled a dispute with the Law Society of Upper Canada after submitting a complaint. SEVEN-YEAR-OLD RUNAWAY BOARDS PLANE WITH NO TICKET GENEVA — A seven-year-old girl who ran away from her parents managed to take a train to Geneva airport and board a plane despite having no ticket, reports Reuters. The girl gave her parents the slip near Gene- va's central railway station on Oct. 29, then took the one-stop ride to the airport. Her parents called the Swiss police, who tracked her prog- ress through the airport on security videos, said airport spokesman Bertrand Staempf li. She went through the security gate and man- aged to pass herself off as the child of adults around her, before using her small stature to slip through the departure gate without being noticed and boarding a plane, the airport said in a statement. Staempf li declined to say which airline was involved or where it was f lying to, but he said it was leaving from the airport's French sector and the destination was in France. Geneva airport straddles the French-Swiss border and passengers can leave from France or Switzerland. The airport said in the statement it would tighten safety rules and boarding pro- cedures as a result of what it called the "highly regrettable incident." NEW YORK BARS GET FOOTLOOSE NEW YORK — A 91-year-old law that turned New York bars into no-dancing zones is finally set to be struck down, according to the New York Times. The Cabaret Law was created during Pro- hibition to patrol speakeasies, and while its restrictions on musicians came and went, the ban on social dancing has remained — leaving generations of club owners f licking the lights or playing "Eleanor Rigby" to still the crowd, lest they be fined or padlocked by the police in mid- night raids. It is an odd and archaic regulation in a city that thinks of itself as a night life capital, but one that has resisted multiple attempts at repeal. That is expected to end after a bill intro- duced by Rafael Espinal, a councilman from Brooklyn, came before the City Council Oct. 31. "It's over," Espinal said of the law. In New York City, only 97 out of roughly 25,000 eating and drinking establishments have a cabaret licence. Obtaining one is costly and time-consuming, requiring the approval of sev- eral agencies. Though the law has not been ag- gressively enforced in recent times, it keeps bar and club owners "living in fear," said Espinal. The Cabaret Law was enacted in 1926. It made it illegal to host "musical entertainment, singing, dancing or other form of amusement" without a licence. From 1940 to 1967, the city required per- formers and employees of cabarets to be finger- printed and carry "cabaret cards," which could be denied if the applicant had a police record. NON-SMOKERS GET EXTRA PAID LEAVE TOKYO — A Japanese company is granting non-smoking employees an extra six days of paid holidays a year after they complained that they were working more than staff who took time off for cigarette breaks, reports The Telegraph. "One of our non-smoking staff put a mes- sage in the company suggestion box earlier in the year saying that smoking breaks were caus- ing problems," said Hirotaka Matsushima, a spokesman for marketing firm Piala Inc. "Our CEO saw the comment and agreed, so we are giving non-smokers some extra time off to compensate," Matsushima told The Telegraph. Resentment among the non-smokers grew because the company's head office is on the 29th f loor of an office block in the Ebisu district of Tokyo. Anyone wanting a cigarette had to go to the basement level, with each smoking break lasting around 15 minutes. To date, 30 of the company's 120 employees have taken additional days off under the new sys- tem since it was introduced. LT "You're going to represent yourself!? That's easy for you to say." Legal News at Your Fingertips Sign up for the Canadian Legal Newswire today for free and enjoy great content from the publishers of Canadian Lawyer, Law Times, Canadian Lawyer InHouse and Lexpert. Visit www.canadianlawyermag.com/newswire-subscribe THE LATEST NEWS THE BEST COMMENTARY DELIVERED WEEKLY FOR READING ON ANY DEVICE Untitled-3 1 2017-11-02 1:56 PM

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