Canada’s employment law community lost two giants recently, with the untimely passing of both Professor Geoffrey England and Justice Randall Scott Echlin earlier this month. In an eery coincidence, Professor England, Justice Echlin, and Jack Layton all died of cancer within days of each other and at the same young age of 61.
Geoffrey is a legend in Canadian employment law, well known to anyone in the field for his many popular legal publications. Those who knew him best remember a fun-loving and keenly bright character. He had just retired and was looking forward to studying latin in the B.C. wilderness.
I noted a while back that a scholarship has been established in Geoffrey’s name for employment law students at the University of Saskatchewan.
Justice Echlin was a well-respected employment lawyer for years before joining the bench in 2003. He soon became the leading judge on employment law matters, writing a string of decisions that clarified and advanced the field. He was fair and tough, showing little patience for employers who he believed were exploiting their employees’ vulnerabilities. Brito v. Canac Kitchens was one example I discussed earlier this summer. In Carscallen v. FRI Corporation, he clarified that there is no implied contract term permitting employers to suspend employees, applying a contract law analysis that is poorly lacking in many employment law decisions. He will be greatly missed in the employment law community.
If anyone has a comment or story to pass along about either Professor England or Justice Echlin, please use the comment feature on this blog.
