Sarah Whitmore

Employment Law, Labour

From precedent-setting employment class actions to defamation and public law litigation, Sarah brings broad experience and skilled advocacy to her work with clients on all aspects of their disputes.

Sarah maintains an active disputes practice with an emphasis on class actions, employment law, commercial litigation, public law and constitutional litigation. She has appeared as counsel at all levels of court in Ontario, in various administrative tribunals in Ontario (including the Human Rights Tribunal), the British Columbia Supreme Court, the Alberta Court of Appeal, the Québec Superior Court, the Federal Court of Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Sarah is counsel to the defendants in a number of leading and precedent-setting employment national class actions, including the Canadian Hockey League, Canada Cartage and Livingston International, as well as a Canadian Schedule I bank in its defence to the first common issues trial to proceed on the merits in an employment class action in Canada. Sarah also assists clients in resolving claims involving allegations of discrimination, sexual harassment and related allegations of wrongful and constructive dismissal, frequently speaking and writing on legal matters related to sexual harassment and discrimination class actions.

Sarah is also frequently involved in complex contract disputes, providing representation in all avenues of dispute resolution, as well as proactive advice to mitigate disputes in commercial transactions, joint venture relationships, shareholder arrangements and significant projects.

Sarah also has a robust defamation practice and is an advocate for expansive protection for free expression, regularly representing media companies, authors, and individuals in a variety of defamation matters. In particular, Sarah acts on a number of cases engaging the right of complainants to report allegations of misconduct.