Latest news with #Seneca
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Byrnes softball wins 5A DI state title; BHP falls in 3A softball; Seneca loses to Airport in 4A baseball
Byrnes scores 3 runs in the bottom of the 9th to walk-off Summerville 5-4 in 5A DI softball state championship. It's the Rebels 1st state title since 2001 & 6th overall. Aynor wins at BHP 5-1 to claim second 3A softball state title in 3 years. Seneca falls to Airport 10-0 in 6 innings of 4A baseball state championship series. It's the Eagles first ever state title in baseball. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Howard Levitt: Think the issue of workplace vaccine mandates is long-settled? Not quite, say courts
Some employers (and employees) might believe that firing workers for non-compliance with vaccine mandates is settled law. After all, vaccines were the best response to a public health emergency and all levels of government both imposed and supported them. So, when an employee refuses to get vaccinated, one would think the employer has a pretty clear case for discharge. Now that the acute phase of COVID-19 has essentially ended, this topic may seem of little relevance. But the wheels of justice spin slowly and many cases are still winding their way through the courts. Although the arbitration cases have been mixed, the courts have primarily found that employers had the right to impose vaccine mandates, with the leading case being my own in Seneca College. (Seneca won both initially and on appeal.) As one court noted in a case involving the TTC, 'If even one TTC rider or worker dies or is seriously harmed after catching Covid-19 from an unvaccinated TTC employee, it will be one too many. That is harm that is truly irreparable.' In the unionized context, employers could suspend or layoff workers pending either the employee being vaccinated or the policy changing. Employers of non-union employees, however, felt that they did not have that recourse because both layoffs and suspensions are generally constructive dismissals. There were always exceptions for employees with medical or religious exemptions, if an accommodation could be found without risking the health of others. And, of course, if an employee refused to provide proof of their vaccination status, the employer could treat them as being unvaccinated and terminate their employment. Unvaccinated employees invariably argued that they should be permitted to work from home as, without contact with customers or coworkers, their vaccination status would be irrelevant. But now that employers have begun work recalls, such employees should not have special status and be permitted to work from home on the basis of being unvaccinated while vaccinated employees are forced to return to the office. But what if an employer has no real interest in enforcing a vaccine mandate for a particular employee? That issue recently arose in a case involving 37-year-old Jocelyn Paul, who had been employed for 10 years as a senior account manager with Sensient Colors Canada Ltd. Her performance appraisal for the first year of the pandemic was highly positive, noting that she was able to 'close a tremendous gap in revenue' despite the challenges of Covid-19. By the fall of 2021, Sensient introduced a vaccine mandate. Paul did not claim a medical or religious exemption. She simply refused to disclose whether she was vaccinated. She was the only employee who refused to comply and was fired with just cause alleged. The court found that 'in certain cases, a refusal to vaccinate may sufficiently undermine an employee's ability to carry out their duties so as to justify dismissal for cause. However, this will not be true in every case.' It said there must be a sufficient connection between a worker's responsibilities and the vaccination requirement to justify imposing 'the ultimate penalty' of termination. Ontario Superior Court Justice Chris De Sa looked at the relevant factors in Paul's case: Ninety per cent of her work time since the pandemic started was from home. During the pandemic, her performance exceeded the job requirements. None of her 10 top clients required her to be vaccinated to do an on-site visit. Prior to her termination and during the pandemic, she continued to do on-site visits with clients in Ontario with no problems. She had no United States-based clients. Even though her job required that she attend certain meetings in the U.S., the employer could have arranged much of the training in other ways. She complied with all other safety requirements, such as masking. What did the court find Sentient should have done? 'A more proportionate response here may have been to review and revise Ms. Paul's customer portfolio to the extent required, temporarily suspend her from customer-facing sales or even possibly put her on a leave of absence.' In short, the court found that Sensient should have accommodated Paul's refusal by changing her job, thereby advantaging her over others who were vaccinated and creating some inconvenience or inefficiency for the employer. Howard Levitt: The key factors determining severance in wrongful dismissal cases Howard Levitt: Why Ottawa should stop interfering and let Canada Post and the union duke it out The suggestion that she could potentially be suspended for months or placed on unpaid leave is also interesting, since that would generally be treated as a constructive dismissal. This case is symptomatic of the court's increasingly employee-friendly approach, particularly in Ontario. And, to the point, if an employer is going to succeed in enforcing a vaccine mandate in court, they will need to — if this case is any predictor — show some genuine prejudice. One size, judicially speaking, does not fit all. Howard Levitt is senior partner of Levitt LLP, employment and labour lawyers with offices in Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia. He practices employment law in eight provinces and is the author of six books, including the Law of Dismissal in Canada. Sign in to access your portfolio
Spectator
6 days ago
- Spectator
Who doesn't stand to benefit from the war in Ukraine?
On the night of 26 May, Kyiv came under another large-scale Russian drone and missile attack, with explosions and machine gun fire rattling the city. I lay on the floor of my narrow hallway, listening to the furious cacophony outside the window. Two thin walls stood between me and the war, hardly an invitation to philosophical reflection. Nevertheless, I tried, because it helped me banish the more disturbing thoughts. We Ukrainians now rely on smartphone apps to warn us of incoming Russian drones and missile launches. They don't tell you which building will be hit or where the wreckage of a downed Shahed might fall. This deprives you of sleep. Your mind churns with scrambled thoughts instead of dreams. If you can catch the truly important ones, they can be useful. So I thought. Between explosions, Seneca's old question 'Cui bono?' – 'who benefits?' – echoed in my head.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Sharpsville softball falls in district title game
ERIE, Pa. (WKBN) – Sharpsville softball loses to Seneca in the Class 2A District Championship game, 14-5, at Penn State Behrend Monday afternoon. Watch above for extended highlights. Sharpsville's Izzie Candiotti drove in two runs with two hits in the loss. The Blue Devils as a team posted eight hits in the defeat. Seneca's Haylee Farrell led the way for the Bobcats with one home run and drove in four runs in the win. The Blue Devils were down, 6-5, until the Bobcats rattled off an eight-run sixth inning on the way to victory. Blue Devils will face the District 7 No. 1 seed on Monday, June 2 in the 2025 PIAA Softball Tournament First Round. All statistics provided by our friends at Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Globe and Mail
23-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- Globe and Mail
How to throw a little luck into your career
Interested in more careers-related content? Check out our new weekly Work Life newsletter. Sent every Monday afternoon. Who wouldn't want a little luck thrown their way for their career and life? What if you could create some of your own luck? I believe you can. There's a quote I've always loved and have made it one of my mantras: 'Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.' Some attribute this quote to Seneca, the Roman philosopher, but the origins are often debated. In more modern days, it has also been attributed to Oprah Winfrey. Well before I even knew of Oprah, I'd seen this quote. In my 20s I was trying to figure out my career path and was at a crossroads. Something about this quote buoyed my spirits and even my sense of hope. I was always preparing but sometimes I didn't know exactly what for. This quote said to me it is okay to not yet know. Prepare and when the opportunity strikes, you will see it, be ready and go for it. Create your own luck by being prepared and keeping your eyes wide open. Some people may think this luck notion is malarkey. Isn't luck random, happenstance? And how can you prepare and create luck when you don't even know what 'opportunity' you are aiming for? What if you don't know what kind of job you want? Career path still confusing? Your next step? Or you are already perfectly happy where you are? Isn't preparing in advance like shooting darts to – nowhere? Not quite. In fact, with so much uncertainty in our economy and many people feeling anxious about not knowing what is coming next, there are many ways to prepare and be ready for a lucky break to appear or to create it. Consider these hypothetical scenarios. Giorge gets a random call from a recruiter for a leadership role that he hadn't applied for but sounded interesting enough to explore further. But he's worried about how to pull his act together on such short notice. It's been ages since he's interviewed or updated his resume and he is wondering if he is prepared enough to effectively tell his story and compete with the other candidates. Francois gets the same call and while he too didn't know about the role, he's been keeping his resume updated and made sure to regularly reflect on his strengths and accomplishments because you never know when you'll need to speak about them. He ends up acing the interviews and gets the job. What a lucky break that the recruiter called (and he was ready). Zahra is ready for a change and sees a job ad with a company she has long admired. There are likely hundreds of applicants. But lucky for her she has been actively networking – just to keep current and connected, even before she was looking for a new role. It turns out one of her new acquaintances works at that company and was able to help Zahra get her resume seen. And with a good word put in, Zahra got the interview, nailed it and landed the job. What luck (that she's been networking and found someone to help). Layla's current job doesn't call for AI skills. But she knows it is coming so she takes a couple of courses. Not long after, her employer restructures and shifts focus to – you guessed it – use more AI. Layla gets to stay while others in her team were unfortunately let go. Lucky Layla (good thing she had the foresight and curiosity to learn some new AI skills). While there's no guarantee that one's preparation will garner the win or bring luck, these few examples point to how luck can happen when preparation meets opportunity. There's lots of uncertainty these days but you may have more control over your destiny than you think. Here are a few ideas on how to prepare for those yet unseen lucky breaks that either come your way – or that you create. Foster the Boy/Girl Scouts mindset of 'always being prepared': Reflect on what this means for you in your career – be it resume updates, new skills or networking. Don't wait for the opportunity to present itself and then prepare. Prepare now and always. Funny how opportunities show up once you start to kick up some dust. Coincidence? Maybe. Maybe not. Learn, grow, be curious – and awake: Don't get too comfy in your current role/sector. Be someone who reads, stays up to date and is always curious beyond their current task/job description. Even if you are not looking for a job, stay awake to where the job market is headed – and stay alert for luck that may come your way, even if disguised as a challenge. Connect, connect, connect: No matter how skilled you are or impressive your resume is, you must nurture connections with others. If you are uncomfortable with 'networking', reframe it as connection. Remember, it's often people who can introduce you to hidden opportunities beyond those listed. And do remember to reciprocate and offer help to others as well. Stay in possibility: Lean in and take actions to do what you can – even in uncertain and ambiguous times. This will elevate your own sense of trust and confidence. I have a colleague who often says, 'Do something, and something will happen.' I love that. It gives me hope that I can generate some of my own luck. How about you? Eileen Chadnick, PCC, of Big Cheese Coaching, is an ICF credentialed, two-time ICF (International Coaching Federation) Prism award winner, who works with leaders (emerging to experienced), and organizations, on navigating, leading and flourishing in times of flux, opportunity and challenge. She is the author of Ease: Manage Overwhelm in Times of Crazy Busy.
