Katherine Poirier

CIRC

Partner

Montréal
[email protected]
514.954.3175

Katherine maintains a dynamic labour and employment practice, with a focus on workers’ compensation and health and safety. She provides guidance and representation to organizations facing sensitive issues and crisis, including severe workplace accidents and complex harassment matters.

She advises clients on a range of issues, including:

  • company policies and employment contracts
  • labour relations and collective agreements
  • administrative law and fraud
  • unfair dismissal complaints and non-competition injunctions
  • grievances before labour arbitrators

Katherine is the only Canadian member of the National Workers' Compensation Defence Network (NWCDN). She has pleaded nearly 200 cases, including the decade-long landmark human rights case regarding Québec-based employers’ obligations regarding pre-hire medical examinations.

Katherine is adept in identifying how social change affects the workplace, while her unparalleled ability to simplify complex legal issues makes her a sought-after media commentator on sexual harassment and of psychological harassment in the workplace. She has also presented training sessions on the subject for employees in a range of industries.

She is a member of BLG’s Recruitment and Professional Development Committee, and chaired the Montréal office’s Pro Bono Committee from 2013 to 2017.

Experience

  • Conducted workplace psychological harassment investigations and provided appropriate training to employees.
  • Represented an influential employers’ association before a parliamentary commission holding consultations on pay equity.

Beyond Our Walls

Professional Involvement

  • Chair, Workers’ Compensation Committee, American Bar Association 2019-2020
  • Elected as an administrator on the board of directors of the Théâtre de la Ligue Nationale d'improvisation​
  • Member, National Workers' Compensation Defence Network
  • Vice-Chair, Workers’ compensation committee, American Bar Association 2016-2019
  • Vice-Chair, Cannabis Task Force and Women Trial Lawyers Task Force, American Bar Association
  • Member, WISTA (Women International Shipping and Trade Association)
  • Monthly Contributor, FacteurH Magazine
  • Member, Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines et en relations industrielles
  • Past Vice-Chair and Chair, Canadian Bar Association, Labour & Employment Section, Québec Division

Community Involvement

  • Past Secretary of the Board of Suicide Action Montréal, École de Cirque de Verdun, Carpe Diem Emmanuel Jouthe and the Jeune Chambre de Commerce Foundation
  • Past Vice-President and Secretary of the Board, Jeune Chambre de commerce de Montréal

Awards & Recognitions

  • Recognized in the 2022 edition (and in 2019) of The Legal 500 Canada as a "Next Generation Lawyer” (Labour & Employment)
  • Recognized in the 2021 edition of the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory (Workers' Compensation)
  • Recipient, 2020 Women in Law Leadership Stronger Together Award for Quebec
  • Recognized in the 2022 edition (and since 2017) of The Best Lawyers in Canada® (Labour and Employment Law) and in the 2022 edition (and since 2020) (Workers' Compensation Law)
  • Recipient, Claude-Masson Hommage Bénévolat Québec award, Government of Québec, 2006

Bar Admission & Education

  • Québec, 2003
  • BCL/LLB (Hons.), McGill University, 2001
  • Certified human relations counsellor, 2007