Howard Levitt

Howard Levitt is a Canadian lawyer, author, and columnist. He is a senior partner at the Toronto employment law firm Levitt Sheikh LLP.^[1] Levitt has published six employment law books, including The Law of Dismissal in Canada. He writes a weekly column for the Financial Post.^[2]

Howard Levitt
Born	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Education	University of Toronto
Occupation(s)	Lawyer, author, columnist
Website	www.levittllp.com

Early life

Levitt was raised in Hamilton, Ontario.^[3] He attended the University of Toronto, where he obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree. He did courses at Harvard Law School, following that, obtaining his Negotiation and Advanced Negotiation Certificate under Roger Fisher.^[4]

Career

Legal career

Levitt was called to the Ontario Bar in 1979.^[3] He started his career as an employment lawyer specializing in wrongful dismissal.^[5]

Levitt worked on several prolific cases in his early career. In 1987, he represented Betty Stone, who worked for the Toronto branch of the National Council of Jewish Women.^[6] Stone lost her employment as executive director after investigating the political contributions of fundraiser Patti Starr.^[7] Known as the Patti Starr affair, the legal proceedings received prominent news coverage and he acted for her before the Houlden Commission.^[8][9] This case contributed to the collapse of the David Peterson provincial Liberal government since many cabinet ministers were involved with Starr.^[10][11]

Levitt also represented Yolanda Ballard, the long-time companion of the Toronto Maple Leafs owner Harold Ballard.^[12] After Ballard died in 1990, Yolanda had a legal dispute with his children over the estate, documented extensively in the news.^[13][14]

In the early 1990s, Levitt represented Marek Machtinger, a car dealership employee who disputed the severance pay and termination clause against his former employer.^[15] He argued the dismissal did not meet Ontario's Employment Standards Act (ESA). The Machtinger v. HOJ Industries Ltd. case reached the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992, in which Levitt won the appeal.^[16] The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of Machtinger, stating that employers must comply with the requirements of the ESA.^[17] Levitt has acted as lead counsel in more employment law cases before the Supreme Court of Canada and at more provincial Courts of Appeal than any other lawyer in Canadian history.^[4]

Levitt developed his career at Lang Michener, which has since rebranded itself as McMillan LLP.^[18][19] In 2011, Levitt started his employment law firm, Levitt LLP. His clients have included the Business Development Bank of Canada, Corus Entertainment, CPA Canada, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, and The Co-operators.^[3]

Levitt's firm worked on the Matthews v. Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd. case, which reached the Supreme Court for its verdict.^[20] His team represented Matthews, a former Ocean Nutrition Canada employee who sought damages over his exclusion from the company's long-term incentive plan (LTIP).^[21] In 2020, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that Matthews was entitled to over $1 million in damages for the loss of the LTIP payments.^[22][23] In February 2023, he co-counselled with local counsel and won the largest compensation ever awarded for an employment law case in New Brunswick.^[24][25] In May 2023, Levitt was elected as a bencher for the Law Society of Ontario (LSO).^[26]

Political career

Levitt was Ontario Counsel for the Jean Chretien for Leadership campaign in 1990.^[27] At the time of the Meech Lake Accord, Levitt was co-chair, along with the Honourable John Roberts, of ALARM, an organization of Liberals across Canada opposing the Accord which included Premiers and provincial Opposition Leaders.^[28] Pierre Trudeau provided this group with support at the time.^[29]

Author

In 1985, Levitt authored The Law of Dismissal in Canada, a bestselling book analyzing wrongful dismissal cases.^[30][31] A Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies reviewer praised it as "an indispensable addition to any course on employment law."^[32]

After his first publication, Levitt also wrote five other books in his career. His titles include The Law of Dismissal for Human Resources Professionals and War Stories from the Workplace: Columns by Howard Levitt.^[33][34] Since 1985, he has been Editor-in-Chief of the Dismissal and Employment Law Digest covering all employment law cases across Canada.^[31]

Columnist

Levitt has a twice weekly column in the Financial Post section of the National Post. He writes about legal topics in the workplace.^[2] Levitt appears in radio programs, such as 680 News.^[35][36] Over the years, he has been interviewed regularly by numerous media sources as an authority on labour law, including CBC News, CTV News, Global News, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.^{[37][38][39][40]}

Philanthropy

Levitt's philanthropy includes giving $1,000,000 to the Sinai Health Foundation, a charitable organization serving Mount Sinai Hospital.^[41] In 2022, Levitt donated a large sum to the University of Toronto Faculty of Law.^[4] The funds support the law school's Indigenous initiatives and postgraduate research. An Indigenous sculpture, donated by Levitt, will be placed in the Howard and Pamela Levitt Square at Falconer Hall.^[31][42]

Awards

Levitt received the Governor General's Award for Community Service and Citizenship in 2012.^[42]

References

1. "Howard Levitt | Employment Lawyer | Levitt Sheikh". Levitt Sheikh Employment & Labour Lawyers. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
2. "Howard Levitt | Financial Post". Financial Post. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
3. Lamb, Katie; Pachner, Joanna (2018-06-25). "Employment lawyer Howard Levitt: He's 'like bringing a bazooka to a gun fight'". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
4. "Gift from alumnus Howard Levitt will support the revitalization of historic footprint, graduate research and Indigenous initiatives at U of T Law". University of Toronto Faculty of Law. 2022-03-04. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
5. Nemeth, Mary; Came, Berry (1992-02-17). "Chilling the Sexes". Maclean's. 105 (7): 42–45 – via ProQuest.
6. Allen, Gene (1989-09-20). "Challenge by lawyers may halt Starr inquiry". The Globe and Mail. pp. A17. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
7. Ferguson, Derek; Morris, Nomi (1989-09-19). "Worker fired for checking in Starr, inquiry told". Toronto Star. pp. A1. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
8. Chris, Hall (1989-09-20). "Ex-head of charity fired for investigating Starr affair". The Ottawa Citizen. pp. A4. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
9. "Witnessed fired by Starr vows to tell 'whole story' of charity's donations". Montreal Gazette. 1989-10-02. pp. A7. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
10. Story, Alan; Ferguson, Derek (1989-08-02). "5 cabinet ministers axed in wake of Starr scandal". Toronto Star. pp. A1. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
11. Walkom, Thomas (1989-06-24). "Has Patti killed Peterson's chances of being Liberal leader?". Toronto Star. pp. D1. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
12. "Yolanda's lawyers strike back". The Ottawa Citizen. 1990-01-20. pp. F3. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
13. Armstrong, Laura (2020-06-14). "Yolanda Ballard, 87, played central role in Maple Leafs soap opera". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
14. "Yolanda's lawyer on attack". The Province. 1990-02-12. p. 50. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
15. "Machtinger v. HOJ Industries Ltd. - SCC Cases". Supreme Court of Canada. 1992-04-30. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
16. "Employment contract has pitfalls for employers". The Hamilton Spectator. 1992-06-19. pp. C6. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
17. Gibb-Clark, Margot (1992-05-01). "Court upholds reasonable notice Contracts providing employees less than minimum dismissal notice ruled void". The Globe and Mail. pp. B2. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
18. "Lang Michener". The Globe and Mail. 1998-02-20. pp. B5. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
19. Myers, Randi Chapnick (2008-07-23). "VACATION STRATEGY: Sittin' here resting my bones, work won't leave me alone". The Globe and Mail. pp. C1. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
20. "Matthews v. Ocean Nutrition Canada Ltd. - SCC Cases". Supreme Court of Canada. 2020-10-09. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
21. Bensadoun, Emerald (2020-10-13). "Supreme Court ruling entitles dismissed employees to bonuses within reasonable notice period". Global News. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
22. Fine, Sean (2020-10-09). "Supreme Court ruling is a bonus for constructively dismissed employees". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
23. Raymer, Elizabeth (2020-10-13). "Executive constructively dismissed from job is entitled to damages including incentive bonus: SCC". Canadian Lawyer. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
24. MacKinnon, Bobbi-Jean (2023-02-16). "Fired Horizon CEO awarded record-breaking $2M in unjust dismissal case against province". CBC News. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
25. Dujay, John (2023-02-16). "Largest-ever unjust firing award of $2 million given out in New Brunswick". Canadian HR Reporter. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
26. "May 25 | Law Society of Ontario". Law Society of Ontario. 2023-05-25. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
27. Page, Shelley (1990-02-26). "Martin wins delegates amid cheating claims". Toronto Star. pp. A10. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
28. Delacourt, Susan (1989-08-21). "Anti-Meech Liberals urge would-be leaders to oppose agreement". The Globe and Mail. pp. A10. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
29. Bauch, Hubert (1987-11-24). "Trudeau briefed on group fighting Meech accord". Montreal Gazette. pp. B1. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
30. Bullock, Helen (1987-03-12). "If a boss gives you his word he's obligated to back it up". Toronto Star. pp. E6. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
31. Rowe, Janet (2022-03-04). "Law alum Howard Levitt supports research, Indigenous initiatives at U of T". University of Toronto. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
32. Spiteri, Christopher (1993-01-01). "The Law of Dismissal (Second Edition), Howard Levitt". Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies. 2 (19): 362–365.
33. "The Law of Dismissal for Human Resources Professionals". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
34. "War Stories from the Workplace: Columns by Howard Levitt, Softbound book". Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
35. "Your COVID-19 employment questions answered". iHeartRadio. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
36. "Dan MacDonald Show - Your Employment Questions Answered". iHeartRadio. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
37. Gollom, Mark (2020-05-06). "Anxious about COVID-19 and returning to work? Here's what you need to know". CBC News. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
38. Jones, Alexandra Mae (2022-05-12). "Remote work highlights challenge of balancing employer surveillance and privacy". CTV News. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
39. Duffy, Ian (2022-02-09). "COVID-19: Private businesses face own policy decision when mandates lift". Global News. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
40. Keidan, Maiya (2023-01-26). "Canada expected to buck trend of big investment banking layoffs". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
41. "Donor List - Cumulative 2022". Sinai Health. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
42. Jerome, Amanda (2022-03-08). "U of T Faculty of Law receives millions in donations for Indigenous law chair, programming". Law360 Canada. Retrieved 2023-02-22.

External links

• Levitt Sheikh LLP
• Howard Levitt - Financial Post column