Whistleblowers, Internal Reporting, and Retaliation Risk: What You Need to Know to Advise Clients

The CBA is a professional organization that provides educational and networking opportunities for lawyers. Representing more than 36,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada, the CBA is committed to enhancing the professional and commercial interests of a diverse membership and to protecting the independence of the judiciary and the Bar.

Erin (she/her) is an employment and human rights lawyer and cofounder of PortaLaw. She is passionate about helping people create meaningful employment relationships and assisting to resolve conflict where those relationships break down. Erin is excited by new ideas that increase the value clients receive from legal services and enthusiastic about new technologies that make accessing legal services more convenient. She channels this passion and enthusiasm into solving workplace problems for both employers and employees. Erin is innovative, creative, compassionate, hard-working, and fair. She wants to help you – business owners and workers – find joy in what you do.

Simon Fischer is a commercial litigator with Lindsay Kenney LLP in Vancouver. He practices in the firm’s General Litigation Group, advising clients in employment, commercial, and tort disputes and appearing before tribunals and courts across British Columbia. Before immigrating to Canada, Simon practiced in the United States at a boutique litigation firm in Boston, where his work focused on whistleblower and fraud litigation. He was part of the legal team that achieved more than $950 million in client recoveries, including the largest whistleblower award ever issued by the U.S. government. His prior experience also includes work with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. Simon is called to the bar in British Columbia, Massachusetts, and New York.

Founder of Hum Law, Lai-King Hum is known for expertise in all areas of workplace law. Her practice encompasses employment law, human rights, professional regulation, mediation and litigation. Lai opened her Toronto-based employment law and human rights firm in 2014, having established herself as a leading employment law practitioner at top-tier national firms in Ontario and Quebec. Lai advises and represents Canadian and U.S.- and International -based businesses, non-profit organizations, entrepreneurs and individuals in a range of matters in jurisdictions across Canada. She offers legal services in English and French to clients in manufacturing, education, healthcare and financial / banking services. Licensed by both the Ontario Bar and the Quebec Bar, Lai has appeared before various levels of court and tribunals. She is a member of ADR Institute of Ontario, and conducts workplace investigations as well as mediations. Before embarking on a full-scale investigation, Lai first ensures that the client has explored and exhausted all avenues for resolution. She is experienced in resolving internal workplace matters relating to harassment or discrimination, either through investigations or as a workplace mediator. As a mediator in workplace matters, Lai tailors her approach to the circumstances at-hand, but leans towards an evaluative mediation practice model, rooted in her knowledge of the law. In addition to her practice, Lai is a Deputy Judge in the Small Claims Court of the Superior Court of Justice in Toronto. She is also one of three Discrimination and Harassment Counsel in the Discrimination and Harassment Counsel Program, a service funded by the Law Society of Ontario.

Solomon Ngoladi, Whistleblower Program Officer, Alberta Securities Commission Solomon Ngoladi has several years of international experience spanning corporate and commercial law, securities regulation and enforcement, and global standards-setting gained outside of Canada. Most of his career has been dedicated to protecting investors and upholding the integrity of capital markets. In his current role, Solomon plays a pivotal part in administering the ASC’s Whistleblower Program. As part of his responsibilities, he contributes to developing and refining whistleblower policies and procedures, handles the intake and analysis of whistleblower tips, investigates breaches of securities law, conducts stakeholder engagement and promotes public awareness. Previously, Solomon served as an Enforcement and Cooperation Advisor at the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO)—the global standard-setting body for the securities market—based in Madrid, Spain. In that role, he significantly contributed to several enforcement projects and supported cross-border cooperation initiatives. Prior to IOSCO, he worked as Enforcement Counsel with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria, where he advised on complex enforcement matters and appeared before securities administrative panels and tribunals. He also practiced civil, corporate and commercial litigation overseas before transitioning into securities regulatory enforcement. Prior to IOSCO, he worked as Enforcement Counsel with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria, where he advised on complex enforcement matters and appeared before securities administrative panels and tribunals. He also practiced civil, corporate and commercial litigation before transitioning into securities regulatory enforcement. He also practiced civil, corporate and commercial litigation overseas before moving to Canada.