Law Times

Law Times • May 27, 2013 Page 5 NEWS Will funding follow expansion? 'Partial victory' for older workers Continued from page 1 "Are they going to expect us to do areas of law we don't traditionally do now or are there going to be areas of law we can't handle with the current funding environment? The proof will be in the pudding. When they actually come out with the details, then we'll know if they're going to properly fund us, if they're going to expect us to do areas of law we don't do." Recent trends have triggered such concerns, says Cruikshank. LAO, he notes, has stopped issuing certificates for some areas of the law where it now expects clinics to fill the gap, such as Ontario Disability Support Program hearings and appeals. "They kind of just unilaterally stopped doing that and said, 'Well, clinics should be able to do it entirely.' The same thing was happening in landlord and tenant. The concern is are they going to do that with other areas of law? Is that sort of a hidden agenda that we can't see?" Part of the future for clinic law, according to the LAO report, is greater provision of services through the Internet. "LAO believes that clients could be even better served if there were more points of client access available throughout the province," the report states. "This could be accomplished by significantly increasing the number of potential satellite offices, using telephone and the Internet more innovatively, and expanding the use of legal workers or intermediaries, especially in rural and remote areas." But as the clinic law system undergoes reform, it's important to maintain community engagement, according to Hiley. "I'm not a big fan of 1-800 numbers," she says. "I think that a client service centre where you phone in and you speak to a client service rep has some validity for some sorts of problems and some level of the population, but it certainly would not suit, for instance, our clients who have mental health issues, newcomers who don't know the cultural issues, et cetera. "We have to as a clinic system look at structuring ourselves so that we maintain that one-on-one service for the most vulnerable and needy." LAO spokesman Kristian Justesen suggests there has to be a balance between Internet and phone-based services and in-person assistance. "LAO agrees with the proposition that access to justice depends on more than just Internet services," he said. "That said, it is also true that the legal aid system can utilize technology more effectively." He added: "Ontario is a very large, diverse province with 77 community legal clinics. What promotes better services and innovation in one part of the province is not necessarily the best plan for other parts of the province." LAO will facilitate discussions among local and regional community agencies and clinics to determine what works best and where, says Justesen. LT Continued from page 1 in Schon's reply was inaccurate since the company hired other candidates at higher pay than Reiss' expectations. Reiss wasn't considered for the position even after the two other selected candidates either quit or didn't accept the job offer. "For the reasons noted earlier, I find that a reasonable inference from the evidence concerning Mr. Schon's involvement is that he personally had formed the opinion that the applicant was not a suitable candidate, based on a stereotypical view about the applicant, based in part on the applicant's age," wrote Cook. "The result of this was that the applicant thought that he had been rejected and did not follow up. I find that Mr. Schon's communications to the applicant were tainted by age discrimination and that this had an adverse effect on the applicant." Since two other candidates had already been found to be suitable for the job when Schon sent the rejection e-mail to Reiss, the loss the lawyer suffered wasn't the position itself but his ability to follow up on his application at a later time, Cook found. "It does seem to me that if Mr. Schon had told the applicant that his application was on hold instead of telling him that he had been rejected, it is very likely that the applicant would have followed up with respect to the position," he wrote. In a statement to Law Times, Reiss said he launched the lawsuit to raise awareness about age discrimination in the workplace. "The tribunal's decision draws public attention to the pervasive problem of age discrimination. The decision is a partial victory for older workers but much more remains to be accomplished," he said. "Employers and recruitment firms must be constantly vigilant in order to protect the rights enshrined in the Human Rights Code. My goal was to raise awareness of the issue and I think I have succeeded." CCH didn't respond to a request for comment on the matter. In his decision, Cook found Reiss wasn't entitled to compensation for monetary loss because he couldn't establish that Mason herself was discriminatory and it was she who was the decision-maker. Mason's discomfort with Reiss' application was reasonable given the redacted information, according to the tribunal. Her indication in one e-mail that he may be overqualified for the job also wasn't discriminatory, Cook found. "In the case before me, I do not see the fact that Ms. Mason identified the applicant as over-qualified as evidence of discrimination. The significance of the applicant's 'over-qualification' was that he had worked for many years in a senior corporate law position. Given this, Ms. Mason was not clear why the applicant would want to instead work as a legal writer at a low salary." The $5,000 award is compensation for injury to dignity and feelings, but Cook admitted it's difficult to quantify that. "In itself, incorrect information about the status of a job application would not lead to a higher end award. However, the applicant was clearly upset about not being considered for the job and this information came from Mr. Schon. It was the information from Mr. Schon that caused the applicant to file the application. If the applicant had followed, up he might well have got an interview." LT LEGAL EDUCATION SEMINARS SPRING 2013 SCHEDULE Canadian Construction Insurance Law: A Roadmap to Risk Management Procurement In Practice: Avoiding the Pitfalls Third Annual Social Media Law Conference: Cutting Edge Practical Advice from Canada's Advertising Law Experts All courses accredited by the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Law Society of New Brunswick, and the Law Society of British Columbia For more information or to register for these seminars, please visit www.lexpert.ca/events Untitled-1 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 13-05-09 8:01 AM

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