Employee lawsuits

One of the most common corporate law issues we see as lawyers is lawsuits brought against corporations by their employees. Many workers are always on the lookout for better working conditions, which is why they so often form unions to boost their negotiating power and build strength in numbers. 

That's why you need to do everything you can to lower the chances of a disgruntled employee, or employees bringing an action against your company. There are a number of ways you can do this from ensuring that you follow health and safety legislation and other employment rules to the letter, so that they have nothing to complain about, to creating watertight contracts that state exactly what your responsibilities and rights are, and what your employee's rights and responsibilities are. It is always a good idea to have a professional commercial lawyer draw up such contracts as we are better places than a layperson to cover all of the bases and ensure you are not left open to litigation.

Sexual harassment

It goes without saying that no one should ever be made to feel uncomfortable in a sexual way, let alone sexually harassed in their own workplace, but it can and does happen, as the Me Too movement has shown, and when that happens, it can prove to be disastrous for your business.

How do you prevent sexual harassment from becoming a legal issue for your business? Obviously, you can never 100 percent eliminate the threat that one of your employees will act inappropriately, leaving you with a corporate law nightmare on your hands, but you can lower the odds of such a thing happening by giving your employees extensive training on what is and is not appropriate in the workplace. You can also ensure that your HR department is well-equipped to deal with the issue should it arise. If a complaint arises, take it seriously and speak to one of our corporate law experts immediately.

Unhappy customers

Unhappy customers are a constant cause of concern for corporations. Not only can they give your company a bad reputation on and offline, which could potentially lose you customers, but they may also want to sue you for a number of reasons, and if they do this in the form of a class-action lawsuit, whereby a group of them band together to fight you for whatever reasons, perhaps an untrue claim or a broken promise, it could get very expensive very fast. You'll need the help of an excellent commercial legal team to get you through that kind of litigation because you know that your customers will have bandied together to hire the best lawyers they can afford.

Discrimination

Another prominent corporate law issue that is getting a lot of attention bright now is that of discrimination. Whether it's discriminating against an employee based on their sex, gender identity, race, ethnicity or any other protected characteristic, you could face a lot of bad publicity and a potentially crippling lawsuit if you allow it to happen in your organization.

Again, mitigating against this kind of lawsuit should ideally take the form of ensuring that your policies meet with all legal requirements, and that all of your employees are trained on the issues and what is and is not acceptable behaviour in the office.

Discrimination issues can very quickly turn working relations sour and make it so that no one wants to come to work each day. When this happens, it won't be long before you get a bad reputation and your company is on the receiving end of a serious lawsuit. Don't let this happen by nipping issues in the bud immediately and getting rid of any bad elements in your office, with the law, of course - we can help you with that.

Immigration issues

Are you sure that everyone who works within your corporation has the legal right to do so? If you're employing even one person who is not legally able to gain employment in Canada, you could be looking at litigation in the near future. 

Police background checks are a good place to start when it comes to determining the legality of your employees, but if you are unsure, you may need to have documents professionally checked to ensure you don't end up being fined or worse for employing illegal immigrants. If you want to do the proper checks, and you want to ensure you stay on the right side of the law while doing so, this is something our corporate lawyers can help you with.

Hire Verhaeghe Law for all of your corporate law issues in Edmonton Canada

If you've been served papers and you need to defend yourself against a corporate lawsuit, you need the best lawyers on your side, and here at Verhaeghe Law, we believe we fit the bill. With years of experience helping corporate clients fight litigation and come out victorious, you can be certain we'll do our very best for you. From patenting issues to class-action lawsuits, we've got your back, so why not get in touch with us to see how we can help you today.