The lawyer also accused the firm, Bernardi Human Resource Law, of racial discrimination, harassment
A Brampton employment lawyer filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against her former law firm, alleging the firm fostered a discriminatory work environment and engaged in “flagrant failures” to accommodate her when she suffered medical issues that included a life-threatening miscarriage, blood transfusion, and IVF procedures.
The lawyer, Lavinia Latham, alleged that Bernardi Human Resource Law LLP, which provides labour and employment law services, also failed to pay her for work she completed and mistreated racialized lawyers, including those who worked at the company.
Latham said the firm continued its harassment after her departure in December, attempting to force her into signing an “excessive” statutory declaration and accusing her of violating a non-solicitation clause in her employment contract when she made a post on LinkedIn.
Latham told Law Times that the firm only stopped pressing her to sign the statutory declaration once she retained counsel. The lawyer, who is Black, says she decided to pursue legal action partly because she learned she was not the only racialized lawyer at the firm who endured bullying and discrimination.
“It’s a pattern,” Latham says. She noted that such workplace issues are typically not resolved in a public forum. “My concern is that someone else is going to experience what I experienced, since there seems to be a pattern of focusing on those who are vulnerable,” she says.
Kathryn Marshall of Marshall Law, who represents Latham, says she’s observed a growing number of women facing a lack of workplace accommodations for their fertility treatments.
“It’s an emerging, very new thing, especially given the fact that the Ontario government now funds a round of IVF,” she says. “A lot more women are getting IVF, and if someone is discriminated against on the basis of getting IVF treatment, that would probably fall under gender discrimination under the [Ontario Human Rights] Code.”
Marshall adds that while fertility treatments are “a significant thing for your body to go through,” many workplaces that offer support for maternity leave are behind when it comes to treatments like IVF. “Women having to be accommodated because they’re going through fertility treatments is something I'm seeing a lot more of,” she says. “We are seeing discrimination around that.”
According to her statement of claim, Latham joined Bernardi in 2023, after spending more than four years at the Toronto Catholic District School Board. Latham said her decision to leave the school board was based on conversations with the firm’s managing partner and owner, Lauren Bernardi, who promised the firm would accommodate Latham’s upcoming plans to pursue fertility treatments.
According to Latham, Bernardi said the firm would give her time off for mandatory medical appointments and support a return-to-work plan following maternity leave that included Latham working part-time during the early years of motherhood.
After she joined the firm, Latham said Bernardi frequently criticized former racialized lawyers at the company, including one whom Bernardi sued, as well as prominent racialized lawyers in Toronto.
Latham said she suffered a life-threatening miscarriage in July 2024 and took a week and a half off to recover from an emergency surgery that included a blood transfusion. The week she returned to work, the firm’s chief talent officer, Lisa Watson, lectured Latham about her billable hours without regard for her medical condition.
Watson informed Latham later that year that the firm would not pre-approve any sick leave she took in 2025 because of the time she took off for her miscarriage. Latham said the firm also refused to pay her for several clients she originated or include her in its profit share bonus program.
A little over a week after Latham gave four weeks’ notice at the company, Bernardi began making false claims about Latham to clients, abruptly walked her out of the office, and refused to compensate her for the remainder of her notice period, Latham alleged.
In addition to accusing Latham of breaching a non-solicitation clause and trying to coerce her into signing a statutory declaration that she did not take any confidential information, the firm accused Latham of being negligent with her files and told clients and staff that she was fired.
Lauren Bernardi declined to comment on the lawsuit on Tuesday because the matter is before the courts. However, she said the firm intends “to file a vigorous defence to all the allegations and any further comments will be made directly to the court.”
