Pension Agreement
(TORONTO) The Royal Bank of Canada has reached a tentative settlement of a longstanding pension dispute with current and former Royal Trust employees.
The Royal Bank would pay approximately million into the Royal Trust Pension Fund, which the bank assumed when it bought Royal Trust in 1993.
Some members of the Royal Trust plan will be offered pension improvements and, in most cases, cash payments.
"Ultimately, we felt it was important to clarify the rights of all parties going forward and to avoid further misunderstandings," says Gary Dobbie, Royal Bank's senior vice-president, compensation and benefits. "We are pleased that we were able to work cooperatively with this group of Royal Trust pension plan members to find a settlement that is fair for all parties and resolves matters related to the plan prior to Royal Bank's purchase of Royal Trust."
In 2000, some plan members launched a class action lawsuit against the Royal Bank, saying it opened the plan to new members who had no legal right to draw from the fund, that it mismanaged the fund, and that the bank claims it owns the fund's surplus of an alleged million, which the members say belongs to them and no one else.
As part of the proposed settlement, there is no admission of fault by Royal Bank, either for its own actions or the actions of Royal Trust.
The agreement is subject to court and regulatory approval and other conditions. 
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False Harassment Claims
A woman resigned her job as a timeshame salesperson with a resort in British Columbia after 18 months on the job.
She claimed that she was subjected to sexual harassment, exposed to persistent offensive and risqué jokes, and degrading comments about women--all of which she said caused her stress, fear, and anxiety.
She sued for constructive dismissal, and also filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Commission.
The first issue the trial judge dealt with was the fact that the woman had two proceedings running at the same time. The judged reviewed a similar case that dealt with the issue of potential duplication of proceedings. The judge considered the fact that there was no application to stay the court case in this instance, and he held that the case law should be followed, allowing the trial to proceed.
The judge ruled that the woman failed to establish that at any time during the course of her employment there existed any harassment or demeaning behaviour for which the employer was responsible. There were 14 witnesses called at trial, none of whom supported the woman's claims, including two former female salespeople. i
In fact, at trial, allegations of the woman's impropriety were brought forward by the employer. While the salesperson was still working there, one of the resort's clients alleged that the woman had unlawfully used his parents' timeshare interest. The woman was confronted with the allegation and was asked to provide a response in two days. She resigned soon after.
The judge concluded that the woman resigned before she was terminated, and that she alleged constructive dismissal only after the employer would not provide her with a letter of reference.
The judge held that the woman had gone to great lengths, with both this lawsuit and the human rights complaint, to undermine her former employer's reputation. Her claim was dismissed with costs awarded to the company. 
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School Board Retaliated
An Ontario board of inquiry hearing heard two related complaints from a man who alleged he was discriminated against because of his race, ethnicity, and place of origin when he was refused two positions as assistant superintendent for a new French-language school board.
The man further alleged that he was the victim of reprisal for filing an earlier human rights complaint against another school board.
In 1986, the Ontario government passed a bill giving the francophone community in the province the right to govern French first-language education within the existing school system. The bill established new French-language school boards, including the one in question.
A task force was created to recruit a small staff to set up the new board. One of the positions that was advertised was assistant superintendent of French-language programs. It wasn't filled.
Trustees of the new board were elected, and one of their first tasks was to fill the assistant superintendent's position. The board reposted this position using the same advertisement that the task force did.
The man who filed the complaint applied for but was turned down for both positions. He was born in Egypt of Lebanese descent and came to Canada in 1969. He has a Bachelor of Education and a Master's degree from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.
At the time he applied for the assistant superintendent position, he had taught in Ontario schools for a dozen years and received excellent performance evaluations as a teacher. He was a qualified science specialist and a principal, and had obtained certification from the Ministry of Education as a supervisory officer. He had also taught part-time at a number of Ontario colleges and universities. He had acted as curriculum advisor and provincial consultant to the Ministry of Education, and was Secretary General of the Council for Franco-Ontarian Education.
When he had applied for the positions, there was some discussion in the Ontario francophone community between those who were born in Ontario and francophones of immigrant backgrounds. There was tension between those who wished to give priority to meeting the needs of students already in French first-language schools (many of them immigrants) and those who wished to recruit Franco-Ontarian students into the system.
There were also those who held the view that the new school board should be led by senior Franco-Ontarians who had been struggling for decades to contend with domination by Anglo-Ontarians and Anglophone school boards. Visible minority francophones resented the implication that they were a less important part of the francophone community. The man in question had founded a group called the Ontario Association for Multicultural Francophones.
In the first competition, the man was one of three candidates who applied for the assistant superintendent position. The selection committee interviewed all candidates, but none were hired. None had experience as a principal or vice-principal, although that wasn't a requirement in the job advertisement.
The board of inquiry found that the man was the preferred candidate of most of the selection committee members, who all agreed his conduct in the interview was "absolutely impeccable." However, one member refused to agree to the man's appointment because he had previously filed a discrimination complaint against another school board, alleging that he was discriminated against based on place of origin, race, and ethnicity for being denied a position as principal of a French-language school. This committee member considered the man a "troublemaker." The board's superintendent of French-language programs and the senior staff person involved in the competition insisted on consensus among the committee members, and because of this, the man wasn't hired.
The board of inquiry found that the man was not discriminated against because of his race or ethnicity, but that he was a victim of reprisal for filing a human rights complaint.
In the second competition for the position of assistant superintendent, the board of inquiry found that the selection process was unfair. Three members of the selection committee were predisposed against the man's candidacy because he was not a Franco-Ontarian. The board of inquiry found that this constituted discrimination based on place of origin.
However, the board of inquiry also found that though the process was discriminatory, the selection decision was not. Having interviewed all the candidates, the committee decided to hire a Franco-Ontarian woman because she had 14 years' experience as a principal and that this experience was considered valuable to a new board facing high expectations among teachers and parents.
The man's complaint was upheld in part and dismissed in part.
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Insurance Industry
(TORONTO) The home, auto, and business insurance industry is recovering slowly but will remain weak for at least a year, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC).
Financial results for the first half of 2002 show revenues growing faster than claims costs for the first time since 1995, and revenue growth is the strongest since 1986, the IBC says in a quarterly analysis of the industry's financial performance.
Increasing claims costs, especially in auto insurance coverage, continues to add pressure on pricing. Now, the cost of treating accident victims in Ontario, for example, is the same as the cost of fixing damaged vehicles.
The downturn in the stock markets also isn't helping matters, the IBC says.
"The collapse this year in investment markets is disappointing news as reduced income from industry investment portfolios is adding to the pressure on pricing," says Paul Kovacs, senior vice president and chief economist at IBC. "The industry invests primarily in bonds and other fixed income instruments and this has moderated the adverse impact. Nevertheless, the weakness is disappointing and unexpected."
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Quebec Employment
(TORONTO) Quebec's jobs market is hot, accounting for nearly half of all jobs created in Canada in the first six months of 2002, according to a provincial economic report by the Royal Bank of Canada.
Employment growth accelerated to 2.2% in the first half of this year, compared with only 1.2% in the previous 12-month period, the report says. This resulted in 155,000 net new jobs--representing nearly 50% of all employment growth across the country.
And most of these jobs are full-time, accounting for almost 70% of the full-time work created in Canada over the past 12 months. The jobs are also distributed across a broad range of industries and regions--an encouraging sign of widespread economic health.
"Job creation has been a surprise on the upside, the housing market is red-hot, and public sector non-residential investment is up sharply," says Carlos Leitao, RBC senior economist and author of the report. "Midway through 2002, it's so far so good. Quebec appears in decent economic shape."
If the trend continues, Quebec will likely finish 2002 with an economic growth rate of about 4%, much higher than the less than 1% expansion it experienced in 2001, the bank predicts.
One weak spot is the manufacturing sector in Quebec: shipments have declined 2.3% in the first five months of this year, on top of the 4.8% decline in 2001.
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Pension Agreement
The Royal Bank of Canada has reached a tentative settlement of a pension dispute with Royal Trust employees. To read this article, please Click Here.
False Harassment Claims
A judge found that a woman made false harassment claims because her employer wouldn't give her a letter of reference... To read this article, please Click Here.
School Board Retaliated
A school board retaliated against an educator for filing a human rights complaint, a board of inquiry found. To read this article, please Click Here.
Insurance Industry
The home, auto, and business insurance industry is recovering slowly but will remain weak for at least a year. To read this article, please Click Here.
Quebec Employment
Quebec created nearly half of all new jobs in Canada in the first six months of 2002. To read this article, please Click Here.
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