Law Times

Law Times • February 5, 2018 Page 5 www.lawtimesnews.com Former lawyer takes feds to court over pension payout BY LISA CUMMING For Law Times A retired tax lawyer for the federal govern- ment sued his former employer because he alleges the government failed to fulfil its duty of care in regard to giving him complete and accu- rate information about his pen- sion options. In McLaughlin v. Cana- da (Attorney General), John McLaughlin, who represented himself at trial, said that, had it not been for the incorrect infor- mation he received, he would have not retired at that time and would have sought differ- ent pension payout options. He claimed $2.5 million in com- pensatory damages and $2 mil- lion in punitive damages. His claims, brought under rule 21.01(1)(a), were dismissed Jan. 22 by justice David Stinson of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Rule 21 is a tool used to determine and rule out un- successful claims prior to trial. In the decision, Stinson states, "Rather, this motion is tanta- mount to 'litigating in slices,' a practice that runs counter to the established goals of determining disputes in the most expeditious and least expensive fashion." However, labour and employ- ment lawyers say this is not the last time the federal government will be in court over this case. "Provided that the advice provided to him was negligent in some way, I think he has a good cause of action," says Paul Champ, a litigation lawyer from Champ & Associates in Otta- wa. "This is just a skirmish in a battle that will go on for a while, obviously." McLaughlin and the govern- ment had three key factual dis- putes, as described by the judge. These included whether a lump sum payment to settle three grievances, paid to McLaughlin upon termination of his em- ployment, was salary-based and, therefore, pensionable. It also included whether a re- sponse from a senior employee of the Ontario Regional Office of the Department of Justice — after McLaughlin sent an initial email asking for his pension to be cal- culated — directing McLaughlin to speak with his compensation adviser, amounted to the govern- ment telling McLaughlin that he should "rely on the information provided by the compensation adviser to make an informed de- cision about which pension op- tion to choose." Lastly, it concerned wheth- er McLaughlin had received enough information to make an "informed decision" when se- lecting his pension option, upon his resignation on Oct. 23, 2008. The dispute over the lump- sum amount is what Adrian Ishak, a member of the labour and employment group at Goodmans LLP in Toronto, calls a "live issue." Some information on what the grievances were about is in the decision, says Ishak. To some extent, they were about McLaughlin not being in the correct job. Ishak says it's un- clear what exactly that entails, but he says what's going to have an impact on the case is to what extent the grievances were about McLaughlin not being in the correct job and if the amount he was paid, as a result of those grievances, is pensionable. With regards to the disagree- ment over whether the email from the senior employee relates to the duty of care and fiduciary duty of the government, Toronto labour and employment lawyer Shana French of Sherrard Kuzz LLP says that, because of the size of the federal government, it's a bit different than a private employer telling an employee to contact the accounting depart- ment. "That's a little bit more con- tained," she says. "But I recog- nize that an employer does have a duty of care when commu- nicating to an employee about elements of their compensation, whether it's their base compen- sation or incentive entitlements, benefits or pension that [the employer] is accurate in the rep- resentations they make and that if there is some third party who has administrative control over that plan, that the employee is directed" there. Champ says that, because the government is the pension plan administrator, it is wholly ac- countable for its actions when directing someone to speak with a compensation adviser. When it comes to informed decisions relating to compensa- tion, French says, there's a stan- dard the employer has to meet when providing employees in- formation related to their com- pensation or other incentives. "What's the standard? Well, it's going to vary depending on circumstances," she says. LT NEWS Roy Thomson Hall, Toronto Friday, Jan. 26, 2018 – AM Juanita Simone Abbott Aaron Jesse Abramson Reetika Aggarwal Christina Devi Ajodhia Jeffrey Kwafo Akomah Marie-Pier Albert Kimberly Alexis Appotive Adela Aprodu Serena Sabaa Ashraf Robert Blake Atatise Naadiya Atcha Noura Bagh Amanda Devi Bahadur Nipun Bajaj Galina Bajenova Sarah Sà Bashir Nolen Abdullah Shaheed Basurto Nicholas Steven Baxter Jessica Pamela Belisle Patrick Jonathan Bernard Pierre Samy Bonsu Melissa Bowie Juan Carlos Bracho Ghersi Puneet Brar Tenille Elizabeth Brown Tamara Ljubica Bubis Sorana Alida-Ana Bulza Michele Caling Daniel Thomas Campoli Gianpaul Michael Campoli Stephanie Anna Carbone Susana Cardoso Adam Mark Carlin Tiffany Beatrice Cass Byron James Cavanaugh Mireille Georgina Chahine Kimberley Chew Leung Stephen Chiu Jihoon Chung Joshua Andrew David Cohen Michael Allison Constable John Francis Cooke Joseph Christopher Cortellucci Melanie Sarah Crestol Christopher William Crutchley Sarah Badar Danial Marie Evelyne Danik Marion Liliane Jeanne Darrigol Santino Mabek Dau Katherine MrieAnn Elaine Denkers William Lyle Denstedt Amratpaul Singh Dhaliwal Monica Corina Di Gregorio Joseph Anthony Diletti Phillip Pinto Dinis Aaron Bradley Robert Drury Ebanehita Joan Edeko Peter Andrew Elston Alexandra Camille Enriquez Kerem Ersoy Mohammad Ali Eslami Andy Bernard Eustache Aida Farizeh Michelle Lindsay Farquhar Allyssa Ginger Lily Flaherty-Spence Dustin Jay Fuller Filippo Furlano Daniel Joseph Gatto Rory Patrick Gavin Monica Gerges Jaleh Ghazi Khaled M Gheddai Matthew Robert Giannetti Marie Lucienne Sophie Giguère Samson Shaleem John Gill Jasmine Gill-Sekhon Sneha Kirit Gohil Eugene Goldenberg Daniel Arthur Jr Gordon Joseph Ronald Greco Hanna Cristhin Gros Natasha Gulati Robert Michael Habjan Gebremariam Hailemariam Farah Hakim Linda Huei Lin Han Gardner Adana Harbinja James Peter Edward Hardy Margaret Elizabeth Hawkins Crystal Mary Head Assia Hetzel Demar Kemar Hewitt Ryan James Hickey Vanja Ilic Bryson Michael Inglis Nimra Iqbal Raushan Ara Islam Evan Ivar Ivkovic Kimberly Anne Jensen Leenat Iqbal Jilani Nour Jomaa Binny Joseph Jessica Samantha Karam Sherzod Karimov Paetra Cecile Kaufmann Megan Stephanie Kendall Aiman Abdelrahman Khair Shiva Khatibi Sepehr Navjot Kaur Khinda Christopher Eugene Kim So Hyeung Kim Justin Oliver Francis Koifman Marinela Kraju Ian Jonathan Krol Rajesh Kumar Phillip Olakunle Kuye Haewook Lee Monica Corrine Levitan Samantha Kate Levy Christina Maria Lewis Meng Dan Li Shanna Li Stefanie Pedra Lima Katherine Faye Linton Jandre Ljubicic Jean Ignace Louis Jean Yu Fei Luo Devin Keith Mac Donald Alexandra Natasha MacBain Sarah Dawn MacKinnon Harsimran Singh Makkar Dominique Joseph Daniel Mannella Feher Mahoon Mansoor Samantha Lianne Marcovitch Andrew Mattu Donald Edward Carlyle Mazankowski Angela Barua Mbuagbaw John Alexander Mc Crea Demi McGoldrick Alexander Patrick McIsaac Emely Beatriz Meléndez Rodríguez George Messih Katelyn Boudreau Miller Zarmina Mirza David Heraty Mitchell Amirreza Mirzaesmaeeli Joshua Kyle Mociak Lisa Moncalieri Ye Won Moon Arielle Chelsey Morgan Simone Victoria Moses Misha Munim Paulina Anna Munroe Marin Nati Nina Louise Del Monte Naval Sujit Nirman Henry Ojambo Oluwatoyin Funmilayo Olupona Adebanke Adepeju Orimolade Fabian Kimong Otto Laney Jean Paddock Jonah Daniel Meegis LaChapelle Parkin Shailendra Kantilal Patel Joseph Pierre Donald Sebastien Camille Perrier Kamal Ryan Persaud Jessica Emilie Pilote Catherine Lise Marie Pitre Alexander Ilia Robert Pletsch Samantha Candis Margaret Prescott Neil Thomas Proudfoot Mathew Thomas Rago Nassim Rahimi Shangami Rajaratnam Katia Kathryn Ramundo Scott Narayan Randev Brian Christopher Redmond Sunny Rehsi Daniel Morris Richter Candice Crystal Rock Michael N Rodrigues Mary Constance Waters Rodriguez Dominique William Rolle Louis-Philippe François Rouillard Pascal Joseph Frédéric Routhier Andrew Carlson Sterlin Russell Pamela Sadaka Sandor Karoly Sajnovics Joshua Pavlik Samac Amritpal Kaur Sandhu Amara Kiah Sansanwal Kaela Ann Scavo Braden George Schnarr Gaudence Mumporeze Natacha Segasayo Rajpaul Singh Sekhon Umair Shahid Shaikh Hani Shamsi Ajay Kumar Sharma Stephanie Nicole Sharples Jonathan Shulman Paul Ernesto Ronald Siciliano Simon Croft Sigler Aram Simovonian Ajit Bir Singh Kulwant Singh Timon Sisic Harry Vernon Skinner Khalid Sohail Yuchen Song Sanjay Navin Sookram Amanda Lauren Spencer Michael Jay Stein Adam James Steingart Suzanne Lee Stolz Kuruppuge Sumedha Marion Swarnadhipathi Evelyn Vijayaluxmi Sylvester Jessica Ragan Szabo Jennifer Yung-Hua Tam Chin Phing Tan Tyron Pradeep Telang Dermot Michael Thomson Rodolfo Ticzon Keith Norman Torrie Hassan Trabulsi Elad Haim Travis Christopher Henry Trivisonno Pamela Tuchlin Ben Alain Tustain Daniel Matthew Varilone Victoria Christina Venutolo Rajeev Vijan Caitlin Ellen Walker Nicole Elizabeth Walker Jennifer Carrie Wan Hilary Debra Wasserman Jessica Ann Wegg Marissa Angelique Welshman Adam Hryhorij Jaroslaw Weryha Jennifer Sarah Wilowski Joshua Wesley Winter Benjamin Edward Wolman Michael Kendrick Wooderson Xin Xu Kiamehr Yazdani Richard Alexander Harlley Young Chiara Yousef Nataly Yousif Shelley Hope Yu Yao Zhang Xun Mei Zhou Muhammad Bin Zubair Umar Zulqarnain Source: Law Society of Upper Canada On Jan. 26, 250 candidates were called to the bar at Roy Thomson Hall. Graduates were addressed at the ceremony by Justice George R. Strathy, chief justice of Ontario, and Paul Schabas, treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario. 2018 Call To The Bar

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