Senior Counsel and Director, Knowledge Management Toronto, T: 647.777.8287 F: 416.862.8247 ssmith@mathewsdinsdale.com
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Debbie Tiller Assistant 416.862.8280 x 264 dtiller@mathewsdinsdale.com
Law Society of Ontario
Queen’s University, B.A. (Hons.) with Distinction
University of Toronto, MIRHR
University of Western Ontario, J.D.
Canadian Bar Association
Ontario Bar Association
As Director of Knowledge Management, Sarah oversees knowledge strategy at Mathews Dinsdale. She provides our clients with innovative legal products and our lawyers with tools to work more efficiently and effectively.
As Senior Counsel, Sarah maintains a practice in human rights, judicial review, and appellate-level matters. She has broad experience in all areas of workplace law, advising union and non-union employers across a wide range of industries. She has represented employers before labour arbitrators, workers’ compensation and human rights tribunals, the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Superior Court of Justice, and the Ontario Court of Appeal.
In addition to her Juris Doctor from Western University, Sarah holds a Master of Industrial Relations and Human Resources degree from the University of Toronto. As a student, she completed internships with the Toronto Transit Commission, as well as the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland.
Arbitrator dismissed a union’s job posting grievance, upholding the employer’s decision not to post a position previously occupied by a terminated employee. Counsel: Sarah E. Smith
August 2019Ontario Labour Relations Board dismissed an application that alleged an employer breached Minutes of Settlement and a Last Chance Agreement arising from a prior proceeding. The Board held that the employer’s performance management of the employee in question did not constitute harassment, and the eventual termination of the employee was done in accordance with the MOS and LCA. Counsel: Sarah E. Smith
April 2019Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario dismissed an employee’s application that alleged a contravention of a previous settlement. The Tribunal found that the employer fulfilled all of the accommodation obligations it undertook in the Minutes of Settlement and did so in a timely manner. Counsel: Sarah E. Smith
August 2017Ontario Labour Relations Board dismissed an application concerning a construction-industry jurisdictional dispute, upholding the employer’s preliminary objection that the application was moot since the applicant union performed the work in dispute. Counsel: Stephen McArthur and Sarah E. Smith
June 2017Arbitrator upheld a three-day suspension and a written warning for insubordination after the grievor failed to attend safety training and a subsequent investigation meeting. Counsel: Joseph Liberman and Sarah E. Smith
September 2016Divisional Court dismissed a union’s judicial review application in a complex construction labour relations matter. The decision pertained to the Ontario Labour Relations Board’s treatment of a voluntary recognition agreement between the employer and another union. Counsel: Mark D. Contini and Sarah E. Smith
June 2016Ontario Labour Relations Board dismissed a union’s constitutional challenge to section 63 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995, with respect to the burden of proof in applications for the termination of trade union bargaining rights. Counsel for four intervening employers: Sarah E. Smith
December 2012As the only issue outstanding at an interest arbitration under the Hospital Labour Disputes Arbitration Act, the Board favoured the employer’s interpretation of collective agreement language stipulating how vacation accrual was to be calculated for full-time employees. Counsel: Steven Wilson and Sarah E. Smith
Sarah Smith co-presented a Mathews Dinsdale webinar entitled A Spotlight on Sexual Harassment: Best Practices for Employers in the Age of #MeToo.
Loretta Bouwmeester and Sarah Smith presented Marijuana & Workplace Safety, a Mathews Dinsdale Webinar. View archived video.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that he has asked the Clerk of the Privy Council to consider mandatory vaccinations for federal employees.
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