Canada: Canadian Labour and Employment Law

George practices trial and appellate litigation. He has been lead counsel before various administrative tribunals and the courts throughout the country, including the Supreme Court of Canada. He represents defendants in high-profile and reputation threatening cases, such as large-stakes labour litigation, fraud and trade secrets litigation, partnership disputes, multimillion dollar employment class-actions, large-issue employment litigation, and prominent administrative and public law issues, including those involving the Charter. George also advises Boards on business critical issues, including financial, regulatory, and executive level sensitive matters.

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Ajanthana Anandarajah is a member of Baker McKenzie’s Employment & Compensation Law Practice Group in Toronto. She joined Baker McKenzie in 2019, after completing her summer and articling term with the Ministry of the Attorney General, Ministry of Labour. Ajanthana advises employers in a wide range of labour and employment law matters, providing practical legal and business advice to both domestic and international private and public sector clients. Ajanthana has appeared before administrative tribunals and the Ontario Court of Justice in Ontario.

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Jennifer Bernardo is a partner in the Employment & Compensation Law Practice Group in Baker McKenzie's Toronto office. As a litigator, Jennifer represents clients in labour, employment, and corporate/commercial law matters before a variety of administrative tribunals, labour arbitrators, and all levels of court in Ontario. Jennifer has been recognized as a "Rising Star" by Legal 500 and "One to Watch" by Best Lawyers in Canada. Jennifer is a frequent contributor to Baker McKenzie's Canadian Labour and Employment Law blog, and co-author of the Employment Contracts Handbook (4th ed.). She co-chairs the Toronto office's Pro Bono Committee, is a member of the Toronto office’s Inclusion & Diversity Committee, and is the Toronto office chair of the North America Baker Asian Lawyers Network.

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Dave Bushuev is a member of Baker McKenzie's Employment & Compensation Law Practice Group in Toronto. Dave provides employers with timely and effective advice on a wide range of labour and employment issues, including hiring, termination, labour relations, human rights, disability accommodation, occupational health and safety, privacy, and performance management. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Dave was an associate in the employment group of a full-service, national law firm in Canada.

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Kevin has a highly developed sense of legal and business judgement and is an astute and effective identifier of risk, both at a local and global perspective, gained through extensive experience as a risk, compliance and ethics advisor to businesses and Boards of Directors. He possesses unique particular knowledge on international and human rights, ESG, human resources, workplace and regulatory law, including training and complex workplace and regulatory investigations. Kevin brings a global perspective to his approach to legal and risk issues that has been enhanced by significant leadership responsibilities within a diverse and complex multicultural organizational setting of the global law firm and in international organizations as well as cross border assignments. This has included strategy development, policy, government and stakeholder relations, thought leadership, and advocacy. He has a proven ability to implement and get results, all the while demonstrating political acumen. His extensive, on the ground, labour and employment work includes collective bargaining, stakeholder relationships, mediation, dispute resolution and all aspects of managing human resources, workplace laws and issues. To enhance his capabilities and foresight on emerging ESG, human and labour rights issues, he sought out extensive active involvement with international labour and human rights through engagement with the ILO, UNGC and other thought leadership organizations and forums. Kevin has assisted clients with understanding, complying and responding to the issues of Business and Human Rights including engagement with and complaints under the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Employers, ILO Freedom of Association Committee, ILO Application of International Labour Standards Committee of Experts, the North American Free Trade Agreement Labour Provisions, the UN Guiding Principles, various Modern Slavery Laws and other emerging international human rights guidelines, laws, norms and standards. He is a trusted advisor and has guided companies to align their enterprise risk management systems with human and labour rights risks, and assisted with union corporate campaigns and tactics. That recognition has resulted in him being retained as an expert on corporate social responsibility, international labour standards and global labour relations. Kevin engaged significant advocacy before courts, tribunals and government, workplace and Board training and has successfully lead diverse teams.

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Matthew De Lio is a member of Baker McKenzie's Employment & Compensation Law Practice Group in Toronto. Before joining the Firm, Matthew represented clients of the University of Toronto student legal clinic's criminal law division. He frequently appeared before the Ontario Court of Justice, including at contested trials. Matthew spent a summer and articled at the Ontario Ministry of Labour - Legal Services Branch, where he prosecuted Occupational Health and Safety and Employment Standards Act offences at the Ontario Court or Justice. He also represented the Director of Employment Standards at contested hearings at the Ontario Labour Relations Board. Matthew is a frequent contributor to Baker McKenzie's Canadian Labour and Employment Law blog.

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Jeremy is a partner in the Employment & Compensation Law Practice Group. Jeremy's practice is focused on providing strategic labour and employment law advice and assistance to clients of all sizes across a variety of industries and sectors.

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Stephanie MacIntosh is a member of the Employment & Compensation Law Practice Group. She focuses on Canadian immigration law, regulatory compliance and global mobility and workforce management, and manages the Toronto office’s Global Immigration & Mobility Practice. Stephanie co-chairs Toronto's Student Committee and was former co-chair of Toronto's Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. MacIntosh completed articles at a leading boutique immigration law firm, worked in refugee assistance in Europe and the Middle East, and was an editor and national student coordinator for the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.

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Andrew Shaw is a partner in the Firm's Employment & Compensation Law Group. Prior to attending law school, Andrew held labour relations/human resources positions at both private and public sector companies. In these roles, he managed workplace disputes and grievances to an appropriate resolution, assisted internal clients with the interpretation of employment-related legislation, and provided counsel to senior management as required. Andrew assists clients with all aspects of the employment relationship, both unionized and non-unionized, in the province of Ontario and throughout Canada. He advises and represents employers in matters regarding employment standards, wrongful dismissals, human rights, labour relations/arbitration, union organizing, collective bargaining, occupational health and safety, pay equity, and workplace investigations.

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Nell Slochowski is an associate in the Employment and Compensation Practice Group in Baker McKenzie's Toronto office. Nell focuses her practice on Canadian Immigration law, with extensive experience in the area of permanent residence and citizenship applications. She also has experience with temporary residence applications, as well as more complex inadmissibility matters. Prior to joining the Firm, Nell gained experience as a Manager Lawyer at a leading global immigration law firm in Toronto. Immigration law has been Nell's passion since she graduated from law school at Queen's University.

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Alissa Scarcello is a member of Baker McKenzie's Employment and Compensation Law Practice Group in Toronto. Alissa joined the Firm as an associate in 2021 after completing her summer term and articles of clerkship with the Firm. Alissa advises employers on a full range of labour, employment, and human rights matters, providing practical legal and business advice to both domestic and international private and public sector clients. Alissa is also a frequent contributor to Baker McKenzie's Canadian Labour and Employment Law blog. Additionally, she has worked on significant pro bono matters, including collaborating with the United Nations Global Compact. Before joining Baker McKenzie as an associate, Alissa earned a Canadian and American Juris Doctor from the University of Windsor and the University of Detroit Mercy. During this time, Alissa acted as a student attorney for the Criminal Law Legal Clinic at the University of Detroit Mercy, where she made weekly appearances at two courthouses in Detroit and independently represented clients in criminal matters. Alissa also acted as a judicial extern for a judge in the Wayne County Third Circuit Court, where she conducted extensive research to draft legal opinions on behalf of the judge and drafted memoranda to inform the judge's decision on motions. Alissa also competed in several moot court competitions while in law school, obtaining a "distinction" honour for her arguments and advocacy, and acted as counsel for an employer in an employment related competition.

Bill Watson’s practice focuses on large issue litigation and the conduct of complex negotiations, domestically and internationally, in the following fields: collective bargaining; government relations; health law; human rights; international labour standards; inquests; labour relations; occupational health and safety and privacy law.

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