Michelle McKinnon

Michelle McKinnon is a partner in the Employment & Labour Group at Cassels and specializes in the area of workplace law, which includes employment law, labour law, human rights and accessibility, health and safety, privacy, pay equity and pay transparency, and litigation. Michelle acts for both provincial and federally regulated employers.

Michelle advises employers on all aspects of the employment relationship, including:

• Artificial intelligence and the workplace
• Workplace investigations
• Employment agreements
• Terminations and severance/separation agreements
• Employment standards compliance and claims
• Enforcement of obligations involving departing employees
• Privacy issues
• Sexual harassment
• Human rights claims
• Major restructurings
• Wrongful dismissal claims
• Independent contractor agreements
• Response to pandemics or other large-scale business continuity events
• Mergers and acquisitions involving labour and employment issues
• Labour grievances and collective agreement administration

With respect to federal employers, Michelle has an established federal employment practice and has a deep understanding of the unique employment law landscape that applies to federal employers, including unjust dismissal complaints, accessibility and pay equity.

Michelle also has extensive experience in pay equity and pay transparency and advises both provincial and federal employers on their legal obligations. Michelle is regularly sought out to speak at conferences and to participate in interviews to comment on this evolving area of the law. Most recently, Michelle was interviewed by Canadian Lawyer and the Society of Human Resources Management regarding British Columbia’s new Pay Transparency Act and recognized by the Gender Pay Equity Office of the BC Ministry of Finance as a ‘Champion of Pay Transparency’ to recognize the important work that Michelle has done to develop and educate employers on their legal obligations.