The Deaths of George Floyd & Regis Korchinski-Paquet
Outraged protesters took to the streets across the US to demonstrate against the unnecessary loss of life and the complete lack of empathy shown by police officers for a Black man pleading to hold on to his life. George Floyd’s death could have been prevented if there were stricter policies limiting police use of force in Minneapolis. In Minneapolis police are allowed to use chokeholds and that’s how George Floyd was killed. A 30-year study examining police use of force shows that a ban on chokeholds and strangleholds results in 22% fewer police killings.
On this side of the border, in Toronto, protesters marched in solidarity and also for the loss of life of a young Black woman, Regis Korchinski-Paquet, who was suffering from mental illness and died on May 27 after police came to her home in response to a call for assistance from her family.
As many of our readers and clients know, we have been cautioning that the legality of certain layoffs and job changes necessitated by COVID-19 is uncertain. Generally, layoffs are only legal if the employment contract gives the employer the right to layoff, and many other job changes, such as reductions in hours or pay, raise the risk of constructive dismissal. We anticipated that at some point the Ontario government may weigh in and change the law – on Friday they did. 
Ontario potentially has another new COVID-19 related law on the horizon, this time related to worker’s compensation. On May 19, 
This week in Ontario many businesses are re-opening. Employers and employees alike have questions about going back to work and the intersection of re-starting businesses with the various government subsidies that have been tiding many people over. 
