Patrick Groom 

overview

Patrick is a partner in the Labour and Employment Group. Designated by the Law Society of Ontario as a Certified Specialist in Labour Law, Patrick has more than 20 years of labour relations experience in a wide variety of roles, with particular expertise in construction labour relations & litigation and health care restructuring.

Patrick frequently appears before all levels of Court in Ontario, as well as the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, numerous private arbitrations across Canada, and before the Nova Scotia Labour Relations Board and the Newfoundland & Labrador Labour Relations Agency. He is frequently retained to instruct & develop proactive labour relations strategies, including positive employee engagement, responding to union organizing, best practices for occupational health & safety, and effective management & resolution of human rights issues in the workplace.  He also enjoys mentoring and assisting fellow members of the Bar as an Advisor through the Law Society of Ontario's Coach and Advisor Network.

Patrick’s expertise includes:

• Administrative Law
• Canada Industrial Relations Board Proceedings
• Civil Litigation
• Collective Bargaining and Collective Agreement Administration
• Compensation and Benefits Plans
• Construction Labour Relations
• Continuity Planning
• Employee Relations
• Employee Screening and Hiring
• Employment and Labour Issues in Corporate Restructuring and Transactions
• Employment Contracts
• Employment Standards
• Grievance Arbitration
• Human Rights and Accommodation
• Injunction
• Interest Arbitration
• Labour Relations Board Proceedings
• Management Training
• Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Occupational Health and Safety
• Outsourcing
• Policy Development and Implementation
• Privacy
• Responding to Union Organizing, Applications for Certification, and Unfair Labour Practice complaints
• Strike or Lock-Out Preparation
• Workplace Investigations
• Workplace Safety and Insurance
• Wrongful and Constructive Dismissal Litigation

Representative Matters

Ontario Public Service Employees Union v Rouge Valley Health System, 2017 CanLII 35613 (ON LRB)

I.B.E.W. Construction Council of Ontario v Labour Ready, 2016 CanLII 49532 (ON LRB)

Canadian Union of Skilled Workers v Labourers' International Union of North America, 2016 CanLII 46791 (ON LRB)

Carpenters’ District Council of Ontario, United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America v. Brown Daniels Associates Inc., 2016 CanLII 46789 (ON LRB)

Ontario Public Service Employees Union v St. Elizabeth Health Care and Canadian Mental Health Association, 2016 CanLII 6536 (ON LRB)

Presentations

Publications

News

Education

• University of Western Ontario - 2006
• York University - 2003

Year Of Call

• Called to the Ontario bar - 2007

Directorships and Professional Associations

Advisor, Coach and Advisor Network, Law Society of Ontario
Board of Directors, Ontario Electrical League
Member, Thomas Moore Lawyers' Guild
Member, Ontario Bar Association, Labour & Employment, Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights, and Construction Law

Awards & Rankings

Law Society of Ontario

- Certified Specialist (Labour Law) - April, 2015

University of Western Ontario
- Brad Hodgson Civil Litigation Award, 2006
- Labour & Employment Law Achievement Award, 2006

Media Mentions

• "48-hour notice for sick day called unreasonable" by Anita Balakrishnan, Law Times, January 21, 2019 
• "ICI sector preps for open season amid uncertainties", Daily Commercial News by ConstructConnect, January 31, 2019