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22 June 2011

Alison Narod Appears in Lawyers Weekly on Mandatory Retirement Case

Partner Alison Narod is interviewed in the June 17, 2011 issue of Lawyers Weekly on a recent BC Supreme Court decision on mandatory retirement.

The BCSC upheld a Human Rights Tribunal decision that a partner of a law firm is an employee under BC’s human rights code. Under s. 13(1) of British Columbia’s Human Rights Code, employees are protected from age discrimination.

Alison Narod, a lawyer in Farris’ labour and employment group, said the case could ultimately “be the thin end of the wedge which draws law partnerships under [B.C.’s] Human Rights Code.” She said firms internationally and across Canada will now be looking at the exposure they have under B.C.’s code and similar codes in their own areas.

But, Narod said, not all firms exercise the level of control Justice Bruce described of the law firm in question. Thus, some firms may be less affected by this ruling. “The more control the firm has, the more the partner looks like an employee,” Narod said.

To read the complete article, please click here.

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