Steve’s practice focuses on employer-side labour and employment, and civil litigation, particularly in the areas of municipal law, professional negligence and commercial disputes. He has a broad range of court and hearing experience, having appeared at all levels of court in this country, including three matters before the Supreme Court of Canada.
In the area of labour and employment, Steve’s representative matters include:
- Counsel for the employer at the Supreme Court of Canada in one of the leading cases on judicial review of arbitration awards (Newfoundland Nurses v Newfoundland).
- Counsel for an intervener at the Supreme Court of Canada in a landmark case on the Charter right to freedom of association (Ontario v Fraser) and in a case considering the closure of a business in the context of statutory freeze (UFCW v Wal Mart).
- Counsel for the operator in a number of significant labour arbitrations, labour board hearings, judicial reviews and appeals involving the unique labour relations regime in the offshore oil and gas industry. These matters involve an array of topics including alcohol and drug testing, safety and the composition of the bargaining unit. Steve has also completed the rigorous offshore safety training, and has experience travelling offshore.
- Counsel for a university in a wide array of matters, including numerous faculty relations cases involving tenure denials and academic misconduct.
- Counsel for numerous construction companies responding to certification applications and in labour arbitrations in the context of special projects, as well as the industrial and commercial sectors.
- Counsel for the Association of Seafood Producers in several arbitrations and court challenges, including a landmark illegal strike case and a court challenge to a ministerial decision.
In the area of civil litigation, Steve’s representative matters include:
- Counsel in numerous precedent setting municipal cases, including an environmental class action (Dewey v Town of Deer Lake), cases involving the ambit of municipal powers (Town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay v Cabot, Town of Long Harbour-Mount Arlington Heights v Eastern Demolition), a disputed municipal election involving a judicial recount and Charter challenge (Coombs v Moss), a leading case on constructive expropriation (Index v Town of Paradise) and numerous other cases involving taxation, tendering, liability and development issues.
- Co-counsel for the royalty holder in Labrador Nickel Limited Partnership v Vale, one of the largest commercial litigations to come before the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court.
- Co-counsel in the successful defence of a significant and complex multi-million dollar product liability claim (Sobeys v CRA Trailers).
