Client Education

You’d like to learn about important legal issues that affect you and your members, wouldn’t you?

Our clients work hard to meet their obligations in complicated and constantly changing legal, regulatory and economic environments. We’re here to help. That’s where our client education program, Leading Questions, comes in.

Leading Questions events address the issues that confront you and your organization. They are held regularly, and include seminars, workshops, podcasts, guest speakers, and more. We answer the questions you’ve been wondering about, as well as those you didn’t even know you had.

Many of you may recall our successful Laws & Bagels client seminars held some years ago. Those seminars addressed many legal issues of importance to our clients. Leading Questions carries on that tradition, but offers other ways to engage and learn in addition to traditional client seminars.

If you are a Goldblatt Partners client, and would like to receive registration information for Leading Questions events, please email: leadingquestions@goldblattpartners.com and ask to be added to our mailing list. Make sure to indicate which organization you work for.

If you’re already on our email list, all you need to do is keep an eye out for the invitations to the seminars, typically sent about 3-4 week in advance of each seminar.

Winter-Spring 2022

Since the start of the pandemic, Goldblatt Partners has been offering client seminars via Zoom. Here is what we have planned so far for the new year.

2021 in Review: The Year’s Significant Cases (that lawyers argued in their slippers)
Thursday, January 13, 2022, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.

2021 was a busy year. We’ll take you through some of the leading cases that you’ll want to know about that were decided in 2021 on topics such as:

• Fighting systemic discrimination
• Political advertising
• Employee privacy
• Benefit issues
• The latest from the Supreme Court about whether human rights tribunals can hear cases from unionized workers
• And of course COVID, COVID, COVID!

Join us for this whirlwind wrap-up of 2021 as we get ready to see what 2022 will bring us!

COVID Vaccination Policies: What do we know so far?
Wednesday, February 16, 2022, 1:00 – 2:30 p.m.

Arbitrators and courts have started to weigh in on mandatory COVID vaccination and testing policies. We’ll break down what they’ve had to say about issues like:

• Why have courts refused to grant injunctions to stop the implementation of these policies?
• What are the hallmarks of an unreasonable policy?
• Who has to pay for COVID tests under a vaccination or testing policy?
• Can employees who refuse to be vaccinated be terminated? What about unpaid leave?
• What kinds of religious and/or medical exemptions might be upheld?

Join Heather Ann McConnell, Dan Sheppard, Charles Sinclair, and Colleen Bauman as they discuss what these cases mean for your workplace.

Digging Deeper into Implicit Bias:
Microaggressions and the Role of Unions in Creating Inclusive Workplaces – Part II
Wednesday, March 2, 2022, 10:00 – 11:30 a.m.

While most workplaces have policies and initiatives in place to address overt discrimination, more subtle forms of everyday racism and sexism remain stubbornly pervasive and difficult to root out. For this reason, attention is increasingly being paid to workplace microaggressions – the everyday, subtle, oftentimes unintentional, interactions or behaviours that communicate bias towards historically marginalized groups – and how to address them.

Join Mariam Moktar and Emma Phillips for Part II in our Building Inclusive Workplaces Series for an interactive workshop on the impact of microaggressions and our responsibilities as bystanders, colleagues and unions. Mariam and Emma will also lead a discussion on the role of unions and professional associations in advocating for inclusion and change, whether at the bargaining table, through the grievance portfolio, or other equity initiatives. Previous training on implicit bias is helpful but not required.

Navigating Long Term Disability Grievances, Appeals and Litigation
Thursday, April 14, 2022, 10:00-11:30 a.m.

A serious injury or illness can be devastating to a worker. And that devastation will be compounded if their claim for Long Term Disability is denied.

Unions can play a vital role in helping their sick and injured members prepare a successful claim or fight an appeal for LTD benefits. In this webinar, Nadine Blum, Fiona Campbell, Christine Davies and Kelly Doctor will discuss practical tips for navigating LTD claims and help you understand some of the tricky legal issues that can arise in these cases.

Cultural Humility, Indigenous people(s) and Labour
Thursday, June 9, 2022, 10:00-11:30 a.m. 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission called upon all sectors of society to engage in skills-based training about intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights and anti-racism as part of a commitment to reconciliation. This session, led by Kelly Doctor, Adriel Weaver and Melanie Anderson, will give non-Indigenous union representatives and worker advocates some of the tools needed to engage in practices of reconciliation, work effectively with Indigenous union members, and cultivate respectful relationships with Indigenous people and peoples including:

• Language and terminology
• How to avoid microaggressions
• How to effectively represent Indigenous members
• Considerations for unions in organizing, bargaining and advocating for Indigenous people or within Indigenous communities

And that’s a wrap for the summer. See you again in the fall!

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Client-specific seminars and training

We regularly speak at in-house educational events organized by our clients for their own staff and representatives. The legal issues we’ve been asked to address in recent months include: social media in the workplace; how to navigate the grievance and arbitration process; human rights issues in collective bargaining; family status discrimination; pay equity; and an update on recent arbitration cases.

We are always available to help you with your in-house seminars. If you would like us to speak at an event you have organized, or to develop a seminar, webinar, or workshop for your organization, please contact Kelly Doctor.