Law Blog Round-Up

The Cottage as Matrimonial Home

A recent blog by Andrew Feldstein discusses the Ontario family law decision in MacFarland v. MacFarland, where a family cottage was held to be a matrimonial home, notwithstanding that it was in the husband’s name, was an inheritance from his mother, and for the last years of the marriage the husband spent more time at the cottage than at home, while the wife hardly went there. The court made it patently clear, observes Feldstein, that just because the wife did not spend as much time as the husband at the cottage, this did not override the fact that there was family use that occurred up to the date of separation.

Olympic Fever

Jim Middlemiss’ legal blog observes that Canadian lawyers and firms have jumped on the Olympic bandwagon, most notably class action litigator David Klein, who announced that he dedicated his Olympic torch run to the survivors of Woodlands residential school that he represents; Blair Horn, a lawyer with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin and former gold medal winner, who also carried the Olympic torch; and Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt, who announced it was backing flag bearer Clara Hughes as sponsor.

Boss’s Orders Don't Amount to a New Job

A recent blog by Daniel Lublin notes that while there is typically no right to refuse reasonable directions from a manager, when those directions amount to a creating new job altogether, the employee may be able to claim constructive dismissal. In the Ontario case Gordon v. Tubs Ultimate Bath Store, the Plaintiff, a delivery driver, failed to show that when he was asked by his boss to start signing off when he picked up product for delivery, this amounted to creating a new job. “Mr. Gordon was not being asked to assume any new or additional liability that was inconsistent with his job-description as delivery driver,” said the judge.

- Bill Rogers, Toronto

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