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Erin Porter Toronto Partner

Erin Porter

Partner | CHAIR, LABOUR, EMPLOYMENT & HUMAN RIGHTS, ONTARIO Fasken
With more than 11 years of in-house experience, Erin is uniquely positioned to understand the needs of her clients and provide practical advice.
Jurisdiction Ontario, 2004
Language(s) English
Office(s) Toronto
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Overview

Erin Porter’s practice is focused on advising and representing employers in labour, employment and human rights matters. With considerable experience in the health care sector, Erin offers strategic and practical advice to her clients.

Erin returned to Fasken after spending more than 11 years as in-house counsel for one of Canada’s largest retirement and long-term care home providers. In her position as Vice President, Legal, she was responsible for providing advice on acquisitions and dispositions, accommodation, employment contracts, terminations and various other workplace matters. Erin frequently appears before arbitrators, the Ontario Labour Relations Board, and the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Although she is a passionate advocate, Erin also knows the benefit of pursuing a settlement under the right terms and conditions. In addition to her appearance work, Erin also has experience negotiating and interpreting collective agreements, drafting employment policies and conducting workplace investigations. A former teacher, Erin loves to present and has been a speaker at professional and client-based seminars on topics such as the duty to accommodate, preparing for arbitration, workplace investigations, code of conduct and last chance agreements.

Achievements

Client Work

  • Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre successful in having nurse's termination upheld for falsification of documents and being untruthful during investigation, [Case - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre], Internationally recognized health sciences centre and multi-site hospital in Toronto successfully defends termination grievance
  • Humber River Hospital successful in having application alleging breach of Labour Relations Act dismissed by the Ontario Labour Relations Board, [Case - Humber River Hospital], Major acute care hospital in Toronto successfully defends against Unfair Labour Practice Application
  • Fasken successfully represented the Peel District School Board by having grievance dismissed on preliminary basis, [Case - Peel District School Board], Fasken successful in having grievance dismissed on a preliminary basis, arguing that the arbitrator lacked jurisdiction to determine matter exclusively before the WSIB.
  • Humber River Hospital successful in having termination of employee for theft of cleaning products upheld at grievance arbitration, [Case - Humber River Hospital], Major acute care hospital in Toronto defends against termination grievance
  • Humber River Hospital successfully defends policy denying union representatives access to its premises during COVID-19 pandemic, [Case - Humber River Hospital], Major acute care hospital in Toronto successfully defends policy intended to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus
  • Humber River Hospital successfully defends grievance alleging improper classification of an employee's duties and responsibilities, [Case - Humber River Hospital], Major acute care hospital in Toronto successfully defends grievance alleging that work assigned to an employee belonged to a higher classification
  • Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre successfully defends against grievance alleging a collective agreement violation related to a hiring selection, [Case - Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre], Internationally recognized health sciences centre and multi-site hospital in Toronto successfully defends against Union’s grievance related to a job posting
  • Barrhaven Manor successfully defends grievance alleging violation of the collective agreement by way of improper layoff, [Case - Barrhaven Manor], Revera Inc.-owned retirement residence defends against a grievance alleging a violation of the collective agreement by way of improper layoff
  • Revera Long Term Care Inc. successful in having employee's termination upheld for failure to meet the requirements of its attendance management policy, [Case - Revera Long Term Care Inc. (operating as Mackenzie Place)], Canadian owner and operator of retirement and long term care homes in the senior living sector successfully defends grievance related to termination

Career & Education

Education

  • LLM, Labour and Employment Law Osgoode Hall Law School at York University
  • LLB Queen's University
  • BEd Western University
  • BA (Honours) Western University

Memberships & Affiliations

  • Member, Canadian Association of Counsel to Employers
  • Member, Ontario Bar Association, Employment and Labour Divisions
  • Member, Canadian Bar Association

Knowledge

  • Arbitrator Finds Non-Compliance with Hospital’s Vaccination Policy Grounds for Discipline, 7/25/2024
  • Arbitrator’s Decision Concerning Inappropriate WhatsApp Messages Gets Overturned, 5/9/2024
  • PSLRTA Overhaul in the Health Services Sector, 5/31/2019

Events

News

Speaking Engagements

  • Ethical Hot Spots for In-House Counsel, 6/6/2019
Speaker Ethical Hot Spots for In-House Counsel Toronto Symposium (9th Edition) location location Toronto, ON

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