Sheilagh Turkington

Sheilagh practices primarily in the areas of administrative and civil litigation with a focus on labour, employment, benefits, insurance, human rights, professional discipline\regulation, and wrongful dismissal matters.

With extensive experience in the specialized field of disability insurance and employment benefits, Sheilagh is a member of the firm’s pensions and benefits group. She regularly provides advice to the firm’s clients on such matters as disability insurance, employment insurance, the Canada Pension Plan and workplace safety and insurance benefits. She advocates on behalf of our clients by way of civil and administrative litigation as well as though alternative dispute resolution.

Sheilagh’s practice brings her before various labour tribunals, including labour boards and arbitration panels. She has also appeared before a wide range of specialized administrative tribunals such as the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, human rights boards of inquiry, employment insurance Boards of Referees and Umpires, Review Tribunals, professional discipline tribunals, coroner’s inquests, and private administrative tribunals. She is also regularly involved in alternative dispute resolution strategies and mediation, particularly as they relate to employment matters, human rights complaints, and disability insurance claims. In the course of civil litigation, she has appeared in Ontario Superior Court, Divisional Court, and the Tax Court of Canada.

Sheilagh has a special interest in equality rights generally and specifically as they relate to sexual orientation and disability rights. She is regularly invited to provide in-service and to lead workshops on these issues and she is proud to provide representation to members of GLBT communities.

Sheilagh has a strong interest in education law. In the course of both her labour and disability law practice, she works extensively with teachers’ federations. She also provided key research assistance to Elizabeth Shilton on the first edition of Education Labour and Employment Law in Ontario.

A frequent writer and presenter on legal issues, Sheilagh has published papers and leads discussion groups and workshops on matters of disability law, discrimination, employment and equality rights and labour relations issues. Her papers have been published in the Journal of Law and Social Policy, the Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Arbitrators, and various continuing legal education publications.

Sheilagh is a member of the Ontario Bar Association, the Advocates’ Society, and the Ontario Trial Lawyers’ Association.