Law Times

Angelina Codina facing legal troubles again By yamri Taddese Law Times oli Amirpour says she paid former lawyer An- gelina Codina $24,000 to bring her brother and his friend to Canada from Iran. But a year later, Codina, who was disbarred for bilking Legal Aid Ontario out of thousands of dollars, "did nothing," says Amir- pour, who was one of many people who contacted police regarding the former lawyer. "I am so outraged; I am so an- gry," she says. "I cannot believe this is Canada." Last month, police arrested Codina in a project called False Angel and hit her with a slew of fraud charges for allegedly posing as an immigration lawyer. "The woman is not an immi- gration lawyer, and in some cases, did not render any services be- yond collecting fees," according to police. Codina is facing 12 counts of fraud, but police believe there may be even more victims. Although police arrested her last month, they had been receiving com- plaints about Codina's downtown Toronto firm since 2011. None of the allegations have been proven in court. Amirpour says she and many others were under the impres- sion that Codina was either an immigration lawyer or an im- migration consultant. Daniel Roukema, spokesman for the Im- migration Consultants of Canada Re gulatory Council, tells Law Times Codina was never a mem- ber of the council "in any shape or form." While the council aims to protect consumers and raises awareness of immigration fraud, Roukema says consumers are ulti- mately responsible for the choices they make. Stomping out fraud is a com- plex endeavour evolving multiple regulators and government bod- ies, according to Mario Bellissimo, president of the Canadian Bar As- sociation's national immigration law section. Since the passage of Bill C-35 that amended the Im- migration and Refugee Protec- tion Act, officials are prosecut- ing fraud cases more actively and there has been an improvement in Visit carswell.com or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation )BSECPVOEȕ1VCMJTIFE'FCSVBSZFBDIZFBS 0OTVCTDSJQUJPOȕ- 0OFUJNFQVSDIBTFȕ- .VMUJQMFDPQZEJTDPVOUTBWBJMBCMF 1SJDFTTVCKFDUUPDIBOHFXJUIPVUOPUJDF]UPBQQMJDBCMFUBYFTBOETIJQQJOHIBOEMJOH CANADIAN LAW LIST 2014 :063*/45"/5$0//&$5*0/50$"/"%"Ȏ4-&("-/&5803, ȕ BOVQUPEBUFBMQIBCFUJDBMMJTUJOH ȕ DPOUBDUJOGPSNBUJPO ȕ MFHBMBOEHPWFSONFOUDPOUBDUJOGPSNBUJPO .03&5)"/"1)0/�, CLL-Dir_LT_Feb10_14.indd 1 14-01-31 12:11 PM Lawyers divided on WSIB stress-claim ruling Appeals tribunal rules in favour of nurse bullied for 10 years By yamri Taddese Law Times n a decision that has divided employment lawyers, a Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal panel has found chronic workplace-related stress could be a val- id claim under the province's workplace insurance system. Some lawyers say the decision that found provisions re- stricting claims for work-related stress were unconstitutional may encourage people who are simply stressed out at work to pursue compensation. But others say there's no reason to panic and laud the deci- sion for asking the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board to consider psychological injuries sustained on the job over time. Currently, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board only compensates workers for physical injuries suffered on the job or acute psychological injuries that follow a "traumatic" event. But in the case of a nurse bullied by a doctor for more than 10 years, the tribunal found she should seek a claim for the depression and anxiety she suffered. The doctor would make demeaning comments, "shoo" her, close the door on her heels, and interrupt her interaction with patients, according to the ruling. In decision No. 2157/09, the tribunal rejected the Ontario attorney general's argument that there was no way of estab- lishing causation between mental-health issues and work- place factors. "When weighing the deleterious effects of the impugned provisions against their salutary benefits, we find that there is an imbalance between the substantial harmful effects on the claimant group and the speculative net benefit created by the impugned provisions for the workplace insurance system," HUMAN RIGHTS APPEAL Union leader's sexist language not discriminatory p3 PROSTITUTION LAW Government ignores SCC's guidance p6 FOCUS ON Real Estate Law p9 'It doesn't follow that just because there has been a declaration on these provisions that all of a sudden it will be easy to put through a claim for mental stress,' says Jason Beeho. Photo: Robin Kuniski See Limited, page 2 See Stress, page 2 Angelina Codina, pictured previously, has vig- orously fought her legal battles over many years. PM #40762529 & $#&!&jmmm$cYa[bbWh$Yec ntitled-4 1 12-03-20 10:44 AM $4.00 • Vol. 25, No. 20 June 9, 2014 Follow LAW TIMES on www.twitter.com/lawtimes L aw TIMEs L aw TIMEs I G

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