Galardo, Catherine - Langlois lawyers

Catherine Galardo, CHRP, is a partner in the Montréal office of Langlois Lawyers and she is also a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. She practices primarily in the areas of labour and employment law and administrative law. Frequently involved in files involving both unionized and non-unionized employees, she has a varied clientele that includes several Quebec school boards.

In addition to negotiating collective agreements, Catherine advises businesses and organizations on a range of issues such as the interpretation and application of collective agreements, the imposition of disciplinary sanctions, handling psychological harassment complaints, drafting and applying employment agreements and dealing with claims for dismissal without cause. She also deals with human rights issues and conducts investigations into psychological harassment allegations.

She represents clients on a regular basis before grievance arbitrators and administrative tribunals such as the Administrative Labour Tribunal (ALT). She also appears before the courts in litigation files involving employment and labour matters.

In 2015 Catherine participated in the initial committee on the remuneration of criminal and penal prosecuting attorneys in Quebec, struck pursuant to the Act Respecting the Process for Determining the Remuneration of Criminal and Penal Prosecuting Attorneys and Respecting their Collective Bargaining Plan.

As Catherine is also a certified human resources professional, she is frequently called upon for strategic advice on organizational issues.

Representative Work

Employment Law – Senior Executive
Successfully defended a major financial institution against a claim for constructive dismissal that called into question the institution’s respect for the applicable legal rules and the soundness of its corporate governance (currently under appeal).

Human Rights and Freedoms – Supreme Court of Canada – Pro Bono
Represented the Young Bar Association of Montreal as an Intervener before the Supreme Court of Canada in the matter of McCormick v. Fasken Martineau DuMoulin, [2014] 2 S.C.R. 108, in the context of a pro bono mandate. That case dealt with mandatory retirements policies in the legal profession and alleged discrimination and infringements to Human Rights principles in accordance with the law of British Columbia and globally.

Publications

Articles

Nouvelles

2013 – Three New Partners

Other Publications

2022 – “Le droit du travail du Québec“, 8^e édition, Éditions Yvon Blais

2016 – “Action collective – Risques et solutions RH” (“Class Actions – HR Risks and Answers”), co-authored with Vincent de l’Étoile, Revue RH (CRHA-CRIA), Volume 19, No 1, Janvier-Février-Mars 2016, p. 44.

2010 – Wrote “L’utilisation d’Internet en milieu de travail” in collaboration with M^e Martine Bergeron, VigieRT, No 47, April 2010

2007 – Contributed to the article Les antécédents judiciaires des employés du milieu scolaire (Criminal Records of Employees in the Education Sector) in Développements récents en droit du travail en éducation, Éditions Yvon Blais, pp. 161–211

2005 – Wrote a legal bulletin entitled Le régime québécois de l’assurance parentale entre en vigueur le 1er janvier 2006 (The Québec Parental Insurance Plan Comes Into Effect on January 1, 2006)

2003 – Helped research and write Dictionnaire de droit privé et lexiques bilingues sur les Obligations (A Dictionary of Private Law and Bilingual Glossaries on Obligations) in conjunction with the Quebec Research Centre of Private and Comparative Law, 3rd edition, Éditions Yvon Blais

Events

Langlois Knowledge

External Conferences

2016 – Labour Relations Seminar of Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés

Other Events

2018 – Conference presentation on managing aging employees, in collaboration with Marianne Plamondon, professional development program of the Order of Certified Human Resources Professionals (CHRP), October 2018

2013 – Conference presentation on education-law case law in 2012

2012 – Conference presentation to the Corporation of Certified Quebec Municipal Officials, entitled “Cyber surveillance, privacy and freedom of expression: finding a balance between the rights of employers and workers”

2010 – Presentation of “What are the beacons of the right(law) of the employer?”, at the 13th Edition of the World Federation of People Management Association, September 28, 2010, Montréal.

2010 – Professional training conference presentation entitled “How to manage termination of the employment relationship” delivered to the Quebec order of professional human resources counsellors.

Since 2008 – Delivered a presentation entitled “Disciplinary Management: Loyalty, Competence, and Attendance”, as part of a training session organized by the Ordre des CRHA du Québec.

2007 – Worked on a presentation entitled “Amendments to the Education Act”, to the Fédération des Commissions scolaires du Québec (Quebec School Boards Federation) by Yann Bernard and Bernard Jacob.

2005 – Worked on a presentation entitled “How to Draft an Attendance Policy That Stands Up to Scrutiny by Arbitrators and Tribunals”.

2005 – Worked on a presentation entitled “A Review of Psychological Harassment Jurisprudence in Quebec”.

2004 – Worked on a presentation entitled “The Pay Equity Act”.

Professional Associations

Since 2005 – Member of the Young Bar Association of Montreal

Since 2009 – Member of the Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés.

Catherine Galardo

Lawyer, Partner