Rebecca Thompson
WORKPLACE LAWYER, EDMONTON
About Rebecca Thompson
If you need someone in your corner when things aren’t going right, you’ve come to the right place. Rebecca is a lawyer in our Edmonton Office, practicing labour, employment, human rights, and other workplace-related areas of law. She is an experienced and passionate advocate for her clients, whether in a courtroom, arbitration hearing, or in negotiations.
Rebecca can assist with individual terminations, severance reviews, employment contracts, issues of harassment, discrimination, disability, discipline, and more. She is also well-versed in representing unions and their members in grievance arbitration, collective bargaining, mediation, and dispute resolution in provincially and federally regulated industries, in both the public and private sectors. Rebecca has a special interest in assisting the staff of unions in their labour and employment disputes.
Prior to joining Taylor Janis, Rebecca spent close to a decade in-house with one of Canada’s largest unions, working in both Yellowknife and Ottawa, and practiced general civil litigation and family law at a small firm in her hometown of Leduc.
Rebecca firmly believes that most disputes can be resolved without having to resort to litigation and has successfully negotiated resolutions on behalf of clients across a wide spectrum of employment situations. She resolves the vast majority of her cases without ever filing court documents.
Rebecca has worked on cases before:
- all levels of Court in Alberta,
- the Supreme Court of the Northwest Territories,
- the Federal Court and Federal Court of Appeal
- the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal,
- the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal,
- the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board,
- the Canada Industrial Relations Board,
- and numerous arbitrations, mediations, and negotiations, including essential services, strike protocols, and pandemic response.
Rebecca can handle complex files that require creativity and sensitivity; she has no fear of challenging even the largest of employers. Her focus is always on the best interests of her client, most often achieved by early negotiated resolution.
When she’s not at work, you can usually find Rebecca immersed in a good book, trying new restaurants, or spending time with her niece and nephew. She’s an avid football and hockey fan, a nap afficionado, an amateur photographer and painter, and an animal enthusiast.
Education
- Bachelor of Science (Biological Sciences & Psychology) – University of Alberta – 2004
- Juris Doctor – Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University – 2012
- Masters of Law, Labour Relations and Employment Law – Osgoode Professional Development, York University – 2025 (in progress)
Professional Associations
- Law Society of Alberta – 2012
- Law Society of Ontario – 2012 (Active L1)
- Canadian Bar Association – Labour & Employment Section, Women Lawyers Section
- Mentor – Weldon Mentorship Program, Dalhousie University – 2018 to present
Notable Decisions
Union of Northern Workers v Government of the Northwest Territories, 2019 CanLii 18391
Rebecca successfully argued that the GNWT had failed to make adequate inquiries regarding a disability for an employee who brought alcohol into a dry community.
Public Service Alliance of Canada v Yellowknife Housing Authority, 2020 CanLii 89597
Rebecca defended the entitlement to a Vacation Travel Allowance for an employee based on the plain language meaning of the Collective Agreement and the Employer’s conduct.
Northwest Territories Government v Union of Northern Workers, 2016 CanLii82442
The arbitrator agreed with Rebecca’s submissions that administrative difficulty in dealing with employees who held multiple positions did not justify the employer’s refusal to allow access to all accrued leave credits.
Ottawa Public Library Board v. Ottawa-Carleton Public Employees’ Union (CUPE) Local 503, 2015 CanLii 6950
As an articling student, Rebecca drafted the submissions to the Ontario Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal that resulted in a $2.3 million pay equity award to approximately 640 affected employees, mostly women.
Other Languages Spoken
- French (fluent)