Read: Arbitration clause doesn’t offend employment standards legislation, rules B.C. So when Leon sued Dealnet for breach of contract, alleging that the company had refused to pay a transaction-based bonus of $52,000, Vaillancourt moved to short circuit the lawsuit on the basis that the Arbitration Act dictated a mandatory stay of civil proceedings when the parties had agreed to arbitrate.Ĭiting the Uber decision, Leon’s lawyer, Craig Colraine of Birenbaum, Steinberg, Landau, Savin & Colraine LLP, countered that the arbitration clause was invalid because it foreclosed his client from making complaints about ESA violations. But Master Barbara McAfee (a Superior Court judicial officer) ruled that Uber didn’t apply. The status of arbitration clauses in employment agreements has been a matter of controversy since the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled in 2019 that an arbitration clause in the contract between Uber drivers in Canada and the ride-hailing company offended the Employment Standards Act.Īs it turned out, the agreement between Dealnet and Leon also contained an arbitration clause.
Read: Uber case about arbitration clause, not classification of employees
