Employment Law Conference 2025: Day 1

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
Navpreet Chhina (she/her) — Inlet Employment Law, Port Moody
Kelley Cho (she/her) — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver
Richard B. Johnson (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Sarah Hentschel (she/her) — Watson Goepel LLP, Vancouver 
Ian Jung (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, Vancouver
Paula Krawus (she/her) — PortaLaw, Vancouver
Victoria Merritt (she/her) — Dentons Canada LLP, Vancouver  
Oscar Miklos (he/him) — Refresh Law, Burnaby
Nazanin Panah (she/her) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver
Dallan Poulin (he/him) — Roper Greyell LLP, Vancouver 
Kristen Shaw (she/they) — McMillan LLP, Vancouver 
Glen Stratton (he/him) — Ascent Employment Law Corporation, 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 
Mary Walsh (she/her) — Executive Director, Employment Standards Branch, Richmond 
Claire Wanhella (she/her) — McMillan LLP, Vancouver

Course Materials Contributors
James Hsu (he/him) — PortaLaw, Vancouver
Shari Munk-Manel (she/her) — McMillan LLP, Montreal
Ioana Pantis (she/her) — McMillan LLP, Toronto
Danielle Perris (she/her) — McMillan LLP, Calgary

Click here for full faculty 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

• privacy issues that arise in the workplace, and provide guidance on best practices to address each, whether advising employers or employees, including:
  • balancing privacy obligations to safeguard personal information with disclosure obligations in legal proceedings or under an access for information request
  • the risks and realities of surreptitious recordings in the workplace, practical takeaways from Shalagin v. Mercer Calgary Limited Partnership, 2023 BCCA 373
  • what a "reasonable expectation of privacy" looks like in the workplace, unpacking the SCC's decision in York Region District School Board v. Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, 2024 SCC 22
  • best practices for collecting personal information for inclusion, diversity and equity initiatives or requirements, including pay transparency reporting