Richard J. Charney
Global Practice Leader - Employment and Labour, National Chair, Employment and Labour Law, Senior Partner
Richard Charney is global practice leader of our employment and labour practice and national chair of our Canadian employment and labour law group.
Mr. Charney practises management labour relations and employment law, a field in which he is widely recognized as an advocate on behalf of national and local clients. He acts for numerous employers and employers’ organizations and appears at provincial and federal labour relations boards and the courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and before rights and interest labour arbitration tribunals. He also advises on all matters of employment and labour law and legislative reform.
Mr. Charney’s practice also involves collective bargaining on behalf of employers, employment standards, human rights, wrongful dismissal, workplace health and safety and constitutional law. He is particularly active as an advocate before national labour tribunals such as the Canada Industrial Relations Board, which has jurisdiction over transportation and similar national industries; the Ontario Labour Relations Board, which has jurisdiction in provincial industries such as construction; and in judicial review challenges to tribunal determinations in the federal and provincial superior courts. He is also a leading labour counsel to a variety of well-known arts and cultural organizations in Canada.
Year of call
Ontario 1983
Law school
LL.M., University of Cambridge, 1982
LL.B., Western University, 1980
Selected client work
Mr. Charney has successfully acted for the following clients:
- A provincial electric power utility at arbitration, establishing the right of an employer to terminate the employment of a unionized employee who underperforms
- A provincial power utility against a union injunction that sought to restrain the promotion of certain unionized employees into management prior to a labour dispute
- A provincial power utility against an unfair labour practice accusation at the Ontario Labour Relations Board with respect to conduct before and during strike activity
- A major pulp and paper producer in a judicial review challenge to an arbitration decision that concluded the employer discriminated when it provided different benefits to employees on long-term disability than to employees under workers’ compensation coverage. The Ontario Divisional Court quashed the arbitrator’s ruling
- A variety of employers at the Ontario Labour Relations Board with respect to jurisdictional assignments on construction sites
- An Ontario-based broadcaster at arbitration with respect to a union challenge to a management decision to the effect that an employee with seniority was unqualified for a particular position
- A media outlet against a union attempt to convince the Ontario Labour Relations Board to consolidate city-based bargaining units into a province-wide unit
- A construction association in which an interest arbitrator substantially adopted the proposal put forward by the employer and rejected the union position
- A major Canadian arts organization in arbitration against a union challenge that would have required additional payments to stage employees had the grievance succeeded
- Employers in the financial services and transportation industries at the Federal Court and the Federal Court of Appeal against numerous employee- and union-initiated judicial review applications challenging the decisions of administrative commissions and boards that were favourable to management
Speaking engagements
- “Challenges to Board Decisions: You've Lost at the Labour Board—What is Your Next Step?” Lancaster House, Toronto, October 18, 2011.
- “Non-construction Employer and the Charter” (panellist), Insight Information, Toronto, April 8, 2011.
- “Damages and Remedies: Innovative Approaches to Compensation and Redress” (panellist), Labour Arbitration Conference, Lancaster House, Toronto, December 9, 2010.
- “The Future of Labour Arbitration in Canada,” 2010 National Administrative Law, Labour & Employment Law and Privacy & Access Law Conference, Canadian Bar Association, Ottawa, November 26, 2010.
- “Update on Judicial Review of Labour Decisions: Is It Possible to Overturn a Bad Decision?” (co-chair and speaker), Insight Information, Toronto, October 29, 2010.
- “Ethics, Civility and Practice Management” (panellist), The Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto, June 15, 2010.
- “Handling Terminations With or Without Cause,” Conference on Workplace Restructuring, The Canadian Institute, Toronto, July 10, 2009.
- Conference on Workplace Restructuring (co-chair), The Canadian Institute, Toronto, July 9 and 10, 2009.
- Construction Labour Relations Conference (co-chair), Insight Information, Toronto, April 30 and May 1, 2009.
- “Recession Issues” (panellist), Construction Labour Relations Conference, Insight Information, Toronto, April 30, 2009.
Rankings and recognitions
- Chambers Global: The World’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2013: Employment & Labour
- Fellow, The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
- The International Who’s Who of Management Labour and Employment Lawyers, 2011-2012
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, 2012 - Labour Relations - Construction Sector, Employment Law and Labour Relations
- Best Lawyers in Canada, 2012-2013 - Labour and Employment Law
- PLC Which Lawyer? Cross-border Labour and Employee Benefits Handbook
- Canadian HR Reporter’s Canada’s Employment Lawyers Directory, 2009
- Walter Owen Book Prize, 1999
- Martindale-Hubbell - “AV” rating
- Guide to the World’s Leading Labour and Employment Lawyers
- Canadian Who’s Who
- PLC’s Which Lawyer? Yearbook
Memberships and activities
- Not-for-Profit Organization in Toronto
- Chair, Board Committee, 2006 to present
- Member, Board Finance Committee, 2006-2010
- Board of Trustees, 2003-2006
- Ontario Labour Relations Board
- Construction Litigation Committee, 1995-2005
- Association of Canadian Orchestras, 1995-1997
- Adjunct Professor, University of Toronto Faculty of Law, 2006 to present
- Faculty Member, Osgoode Hall Law School Graduate Program (Instructor in Collective Bargaining), 2001-2002