Employment Law Conference 2025: Combo

Course Chairs
Valerie Dixon (she/her) — City of Vancouver, Vancouver
James D. Kondopulos (he/him) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver

About the Course Chairs
Valerie Dixon is a lawyer in the City of Vancouver's Law Department and practices exclusively in the areas of labour, employment, and human rights. Prior to joining the City, Valerie spent 14 years in private practice, first at Clark Wilson LLP and later at Miller Thomson LLP.

Valerie has acted for a variety of employers, unionized and non-unionized, from small businesses to international corporations, health authorities, and municipalities. In addition to appearances before all levels of court in BC, Valerie has acted as counsel in the Supreme Court of Canada, and represented clients before various administrative tribunals.

James Kondopulos is a founding member and partner (practising through a law corporation) at the employment and labour law boutique of Roper Greyell LLP. He is frequently recommended as a strong advocate and has represented employers and senior employees before all levels of court and a wide range of workplace-related administrative tribunals in BC.

James was named one of Canada's leading lawyers under 40 by L'expert. He is ranked as a leading employment lawyer in the Canadian Legal L'expert Directory. He has been recognized repeatedly as a leader in the area of employment and labour law and is listed in Chambers Canada, Best Lawyers International, and Who's Who Legal, Labour, Employment and Benefits.

James spends most of his time outside work with his wife and their three beautiful children. He is a director of the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources of BC & Yukon and is a past director and vice-chair of the children's charity, Make-A-Wish BC & Yukon.

Planning Committee
Anita Atwal (she/her) — Anita Atwal Law Corporation, Surrey
Matthew Cooperwilliams (he/him) — Cooperwilliams, Truman & Ito LLP, Vancouver
Colin J. Edstrom (he/him) — Harris & Company LLP, Kelowna
Amy Frankel (she/her) — Forte Workplace Law, Surrey
Richard B. Johnson (he/him)— Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Jennifer Kwok (she/her) — Overholt Law LLP, Vancouver
Lia Moody (she/her) — HHBG Lawyers, Vancouver
Donovan G. Plomp (he/him) — McCarthy Tetrault LLP, Vancouver
Supriya Routh (he/him) — Associate Dean, Equity Diversity and Inclusion, Peter A. Allard School of Law, UBC, Vancouver
Leanne M. Walsh (she/her) — West Coast Workplace Law, Richmond

Faculty
Anita Atwal (she/her) — Anita Atwal Law Corporation, Surrey
Maggie Campbell (she/her) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
Sebastian Chern (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Navpreet Chhina (she/her) — Inlet Employment Law, Port Moody
Kelley Cho (she/her) — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver
Brooke Finkelstein (she/her) — West Coast Workplace Law, Richmond
Micah Goldberg (he/him) — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver
Johanna Goosen (she/her) — Acting Director of Litigation, WorkSafeBC, Richmond
Sarah Hentschel (she/her) — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver 
Kirsten Hume Scrimshaw (she/her) — Ally Workplace Law, North Vancouver 
Eric Ito (he/him) — Cooperwilliams Truman & Ito LLP, Vancouver
Richard B. Johnson (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Ian Jung (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Eleni Kassaris (she/her) — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
Paula Krawus (she/her) — PortaLaw, Vancouver  
Fiona McFarlane (she/her) — Kane Shannon & Weiler LLP, Surrey
Victoria Merritt (she/her) — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
Oscar Miklos (he/him) — Refresh Law, Burnaby
Nazeer T. Mitha, KC (he/him) — Mitha Law Corporation, Vancouver 
Nazanin Panah (she/her) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
Dallan Poulin (he/him) — Roper Greyell LLP, Victoria
Kristen Shaw (she/they) — McMillan LLP, Vancouver 
Spencer Sloane (he/him) — Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, Vancouver
Glen Stratton (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver 
Sean Tevlin (he/him) — Tevlin Gleadle Curtis Employment Law Strategies, Vancouver
Brittany Therrien (she/her) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver 
Michael Thompson (he/him) — Decision Maker/Team Leader, Employment Standards Branch, Richmond
Veronica Ukrainetz (she/her) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Kelowna 
Salim Visram (he/him) — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
Leanne M. Walsh (she/her) — West Coast Workplace Law, Richmond
Mary Walsh (she/her) — Executive Director, Employment Standards Branch, Richmond 
Claire Wanhella (she/her) — McMillan LLP, Vancouver
Cameron R. Wardell (he/him) — Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP, Vancouver
Fred Wynne (he/him) — Tevlin Gleadle Curtis Employment Law Strategies, Vancouver

Course Materials Contributors
Rachel Akinyemi (she/her) — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
Liam Edmondstone — Articled Student, Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver
Amanda Finelli (she/her) — Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP, Toronto
Lydia Huang (she/her) — Cooperwilliams Truman & Ito LLP, Vancouver
James Hsu (he/him) — PortaLaw, Vancouver  
Roza Milani (she/her) — Mathews, Dinsdale & Clark LLP, Vancouver
Shari Munk-Manel (she/her) — McMillan LLP, Montreal
Ioana Pantis (she/her) — McMillan LLP, Toronto
Danielle Perris (she/her) — McMillan LLP, Calgary
Ryan Sissons (he/him) — Articled Student, Tevlin Gleadle Curtis Employment Law Strategies, Vancouver

Click here for Day 1 bios

Click here for Day 2 bios

• a cross-jurisdictional comparative analysis of the different provincial requirements to create a valid and enforceable termination provision
• overview of Egan v. Harbour Air Seaplanes LLP, 2024 BCCA 222 decision and any recent treatment
• a comparative analysis on the interpretation and treatment of termination provisions limiting notice across Canada
• best practices for drafting enforceable termination provisions across Canada

• legislative updates
• program updates
• ESB's new ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) process
• case law of note

• current state of the law post-Waksdale
• review of recent case law on just cause and bad faith/aggravated damages including: 
  • misrepresentation
  • attacks on social/business reputation and defamation
  • unfair litigation strategy or use/abuse of superior resources
• consequences of improper use or overly broad definitions of just cause in employment agreements
• review of the law on bad faith in relation to insincere just cause positions, and bad faith damages more generally 

• review of basic residential tenancy law for employment lawyers
• review of legal protections for residential caretakers and caretakers who do not live onsite
• overlap between residential tenancy and employment law:
  • common employer: owners, landlords, and property managers
  • terminating residential caretakers and evicting them
  • terminating caretakers who don't live onsite
• case law highlights

• categories of privilege in employment law cases, including:
  • solicitor-client privilege
  • litigation privilege (solicitor's brief privilege)
  • settlement/negotiation privilege
• waivers of privilege (voluntary, implied, inadvertent)
• examples of privilege facing the practicing employment lawyer, including:
  • PIPA and FIPPA requests
  • in the union setting
  • in investigations process
  • in pleadings in overlapping actions
• tips for the ethical and practical application of privilege in the employment law context

• developments in the law with respect to unions and wrongful dismissal claims
  • the "Weber" analysis
  • the "Viking" test in the context of "vague" collective agreements
• developments in the law regarding personal injury claims and WCAT
  • the distinction between injury claims and punitive damages claims
  • a judge's discretion, and s. 311 Applications under the Workers' Compensation Act
• jurisdiction and territorial competence:
  • striking claims based on jurisdictional competence may mirror territorial competence: the evidentiary threshold is "not high"
  • the effect of these developments on pre-trial applications 

• liability for defamation arising from negative job references
• requirements to establish qualified privilege
• limits on qualified privilege when a reference is not listed by the candidate
• impact of informal references on defamation liability
• defining malice in the context of negative job references
• employer obligations when responding to reference requests

• key cases
• analysis and trends
• effects on practice