Jeremy Hann

As a trusted advisor, Jeremy collaborates with clients to navigate the ongoing labour, employment and benefits-related challenges that present themselves to our clients as they expand, contract, and conduct their day-to-day operations in Canada. A significant portion of Jeremy's practice is devoted to helping both new employers as well as already established foreign businesses establish and grow their Canadian workforce. Jeremy also regularly advises on more nuanced issues such as the duty to accommodate, all sizes and types of workplace reductions in force, workplace privacy concerns, as well as a myriad of issues that arise from making any sort of change in the workplace. In this capacity, Jeremy recently:

• Advised a leading global biotechnology company with the Canadian employment and benefits aspects of a large reduction-in-force.
• Advised a global medical device company with the integration of its various acquired entities' policies, benefits and compensation arrangements.
• Assisted a midsized biopharmaceutical employer with the expansion of its workforce into Ontario and Quebec.
• Assisted a global biotechnology Company with its conversion from a distributorship to direct employer model in Canada.
• Advised a large financial services employer in relation to the full integration of its registered pension plan and other employee benefits programs.
• Acted as lead counsel for a pharmaceutical employer with respect to the investigation of harassment, discrimination, and poisoned work environment allegations.
• Negotiated a new collective agreement for a not-for-profit organization focused on assisting youth who are experiencing homelessness.

As a transactional specialist, Jeremy's practice involves handling numerous labour, employment, and benefits issues that arise from both local and cross-border corporate transactions. This involves advising multi-national clients in preparation with the planning, implementation, and post-transaction integration associated with mergers and acquisitions, multi-jurisdictional corporate reorganizations, carve-outs, spin-offs, expansions, and other strategic transactions. In this regard, Jeremy recently:

• Advised Accenture on the acquisition and integration of Eclipse Automation, a provider of customized manufacturing automation and robotics solutions.
• Advised Embracer Group, a Swedish headquartered video game and media holding company on multiple acquisitions in Canada, including the USD 300 million acquisition of Eidos, Crystal Dynamics, Square Enix Montreal and a catalogue of intellectual property; its approximately USD 105 million acquisition of A Thinking Ape Entertainment Ltd.; its acquisitions of IUGO Mobile Entertainment Inc., and The Gearbox Entertainment Company.
• Advised Emerson Electric on the carve-out and USD 14 billion sale of Emerson's Climate Technologies business to Blackstone.
• Advised Enad Global 7, a Swedish headquartered online games developer on multiple acquisitions including the acquisitions of Big Blue Bubble Inc. and Piranha Games Inc.
• Advised Safe Life AB on the CAD 7.25 million acquisition of all of the issued and outstanding shares of Rescue 7 Inc., Canada’s national health and safety training, compliance and program management company.
• Advised Sika on its EUR 5.3 billion acquisition of the MBCC Group as well as its EUR 720 million divestment of parts of the MBCC Group by Sika to Cinven.
• Advised Epicor Software Corporation, an ERP software company, on its asset purchase of Field Service Solation from Evron Computer Systems Corp.

As an experienced litigator/negotiator, Jeremy represents employers, as first Chair, in front of Ontario's Labour Arbitrators, Ontario's various Workplace Health and Safety Adjudicators, the Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the other adjudicative bodies that deal with employment and labour-related matters. Some of Jeremy's most recent noteworthy cases have involved the following:

• successful responses to complaints of harassment, discrimination, and reprisal
• determination of whether an employer must provide an employee consideration for a termination clause in an asset transaction
• issues surrounding the enforceability of termination clauses in employment contracts
• interpretation of compensation plans in the context of a wrongful dismissal
• the successful negotiation of a number of collective agreements (both first agreements and renewal agreements) and resolution of numerous contentious disputes favorably for our employer-clients

• Law Society of Ontario
• Ontario Bar Association
• The Advocates' Society