Workplace disputes are personal, complex, and often high-stakes. Melynda Layton helps clients navigate them with clarity, strategy, and confidence.
Called to the Bar in 1996, Melynda is a senior employment litigator and trusted strategic advisor representing employers, executives, and employees across a broad range of workplace matters.
Her practice focuses exclusively on employment and labour-related disputes, including wrongful dismissal, executive compensation, restrictive covenants, workplace investigations, human rights claims, occupational health and safety issues, independent contractor disputes, and complex termination matters. She advises on proactive risk management and high-conflict litigation, bringing measured judgment to sensitive workplace issues.
Melynda is known for distilling complex legal and business realities into clear strategic options. For corporate clients, employment disputes carry operational, reputational, and financial risk; for individuals, they are often career-defining. Her approach reflects both perspectives.
Representing corporations as well as individuals — including senior executives — gives Melynda insight into how each side assesses risk, leverage, and resolution. She anticipates arguments, negotiates effectively, and develops strategies that are both assertive and pragmatic.
She regularly appears before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, and the Federal Court of Appeal, as well as administrative tribunals including the Ontario Labour Relations Board, the Federal Public Sector Labour and Employment Relations Board, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board, the Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the Employment Standards Branch. She has acted in significant reported decisions at both trial and appellate levels.
In 2006, she founded Layton Law Office, building a practice grounded in strategic thinking, direct communication, discretion, and practical problem-solving.
Melynda is a frequent speaker and writer on employment law topics, including employment contracts, restrictive covenants, parental leave, harassment, employment benefits, and workplace policies. She has lectured on Contract Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution and was a long-time contributor to North American Relocation Law (retired in 2021).
She holds a Master of Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto, an LL.B. from the University of Ottawa, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Law from Carleton University. Melynda is committed to initiatives that advance the social and professional development of women. She currently serves as a Board Member of The Salvation Army (Grace Manor) and has previously served on the boards of iSisters Technology Mentoring and Ashbury College.
Recent Reported Decisions include:
- Giffen v. TM Mobile Inc., 2023 FC 1666 (Federal Court)
- Currie v. Nylene Canada Inc., 2021 ONSC 1922; 2022 ONCA 209
- S.I. Systems Partnership v. Geng et al., 2020 ONSC 8086; 2022 ONCA 138
- Anderson v. Total Instant Lawns Ltd., 2021 ONSC 2933
