4505 Canterra Tower
400 - 3rd Avenue S.W.
Calgary AB T2P 4H2

Direct Phone: 403.693.4313
Fax: 403.508.4349
Email:vpfaff@mlt.com

Labour and Employment Law
Litigation
Administrative Law

Vanessa Pfaff joined MLT in 2007 as an Associate in the Labour Law Group after working with another regional law firm where she practised labour, employment and commercial litigation. Vanessa's practice focuses on the management side of labour and employment law, including defending wrongful/constructive litigation, employment standards disputes, human rights complaints, unjust dismissal complaints, provincial and federal privacy issues, and labour relations matters (labour board and grievance arbitration). She has represented clients before the Alberta Labour Relations Board, all levels of Court in Alberta, and the Federal Court of Canada.

• Admitted to the Alberta Bar
• LL.B. (Alberta, 2003)
• B.A. (Alberta 1999)

• Canadian Bar Association, Labour and Employment, (AB-South) - Executive Member
• University of Alberta, Student Legal Services Civil Division - Day Leader (2001-2002)
• University of Alberta, Student Legal Service Criminal Division - Case worker (2000-2001)

• “Attendant Management Programs in a Booming Economy”. Presented at Employment Law from A to Z, Lorman (2008)
• "Hiring, Firing and Dealing with Employees and Independent Contractors". Presented at Hastie Solutions Seminar for Small Businesses (2006)
• "The Law of Wrongful Dismissal". Presented at Chinook Learning Services - Continuing Education (2005-2006)

• “Attendance Management: The Pitfalls of Tolerating Too Much Absenteeism”, Insight Conference (Calgary, September 2007) co-authored with Meghan McCreary.
• “Hiring Temporary Foreign Workers”, McLennan Ross Legal Counsel, Summer 2006, co-authored with Tom W. Ross.
• “Can an Employer Decline a Leave of Absence for Jail Time”, McLennan Ross Legal Counsel, Fall 2005, author.
• “An Employer’s Guide to Employment Law in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut”, prepared for the Northwest Territories Chamber of Commerce, May 2005, co-authored with Glenn D. Tait.
• “Is Recently Enacted Privacy Legislation a Bar to the Use of Surveillance Evidence”, McLennan Ross Legal Counsel, Fall 2004, author.
• “Effective Use of Interrogatories and Notices to Admit Facts”, 37th Annual Banff Refresher Course, April 2004, co-authored with Don J. McGarvey.