''Slaight Communications Inc v Davidson'', 9891 S.C.R. 1038 is a leading decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the right to

freedom of expression Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...

under section 2(b) of the

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part ...

and the ''Charter's'' relationship with

administrative law Administrative law is the division of law that governs the activities of executive branch agencies of government. Administrative law concerns executive branch rule making (executive branch rules are generally referred to as "regulations"), ad ...

. The Court upheld an order given by the Labour Relations Board that required an employer to give an employee a letter of recommendation containing information such as sales quotas, but could not divulge any further information regarding the employee's performance.

Background

Ron Davidson was employed by

Slaight Communications Slaight Communications is a Canadian radio broadcasting company. The company was formed as Slaight Broadcasting in 1971, when owner J. Allan Slaight acquired CFGM in Richmond Hill. Slaight later also acquired CFOX in Montreal and CHOK in Sa ...

as a "radio time salesman" for three years. He was dismissed due to inadequate performance. Davidson filed a complaint under the '' Canada Labour Code'' for unjust dismissal. The Labour Board found he was unjustly dismissed and ordered Slaight to write a reference letter stating that he had been employed by the radio station, the sales quotas he had been set and the amount of sales he actually made during this period, and that an adjudicator had held that he was unjustly dismissed.

Ruling of the Court

Chief Justice Dickson, writing for the majority, dismissed the appeal. He held that the order violated s.2(b) of the ''Charter'' but it was saved under s. 1.

References

External links

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Mapleleafweb.com
Summary - broken link Canadian administrative case law Section Two Charter case law Canadian freedom of expression case law Supreme Court of Canada cases Labour relations in Canada Canadian labour case law 1989 in Canadian case law {{canada-law-stub