Dan Palayew

Partner

Ottawa
[email protected]
613.787.3523

Dan advises employers on a wide range of labour and employment issues.

He has experience advising clients on:

  • union organizing and certification
  • collective bargaining
  • injunctions
  • wrongful dismissal actions
  • employee terminations
  • harassment
  • arbitrations
  • pay equity
  • human rights
  • occupational health and safety
  • workplace safety
  • insurance and workplace privacy 

He also acts as an investigator and mediator in complex workplace disputes.

Dan has appeared before numerous courts and tribunals, including boards of arbitration, the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Canada Industrial Relations Board, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board and Appeals Tribunal, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Federal Court of Appeal.

Experience

  • Represented Telesat Corporation in $2.54B funding agreement (for its subsidiary, Telesat LEO Inc.) for its broadband satellite constellation
  • Acts on behalf of employers in employment law litigation.
  • Acts on behalf of unionized employers in all aspects of labour law, with a particular expertise in collective bargaining and both rights and interest arbitration.
  • Acts on behalf of employers in human rights, workers compensation, pay equity, occupational health and safety, and workplace privacy matters.
  • Conducts training sessions for employers on attendance management, performance, workplace privacy improvement, discipline, workplace investigations, unionization, and numerous other topics.

Beyond our Walls

Professional Involvement

  • Executive and Eastern Ontario Regional Representative, Ontario Bar Association Labour and Employment Section
  • Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario (HRPAO)
  • Board Member, HRPAO Ottawa Chapter
  • Ontario Bar Association
  • OBA Privacy Law Section Executive

Community Involvement

  • Member, Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario
  • Member, Ontario Bar Association
  • Past Member, Board of Directors, Ottawa Human Resources Professionals Association
  • Past Chair, Government Affairs Liaison Committee, Ottawa Human Resources Professionals Association

Awards & Recognitions

  • Recognized in the 2025 edition (and since 2011) of The Best Lawyers in Canada® (Labour and Employment Law).
  • Recognized in the 2024 edition (and since 2015) of The Canadian Legal Lexpert® Directory (Employment Law, Labour Relations since 2020).
  • Recognized in the 2024 edition of Benchmark Canada - The Definitive Guide to Canada's Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys as a "Litigation Star".
  • Recognized as a 2023 Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer
  • Recognized in the 2024 edition (and since 2022) of Who's Who Legal: Canada (Labour, Employment & Benefits).
  • Recognized as a 2021 (and since 2018) Acritas Star.

Bar Admission & Education

  • Ontario, 1995
  • BCL/LLB, McGill University, 1993
  • BA, McGill University, 1989