York professor’s workplace blog is best in class

Human resources management Professor David Doorey has taken home what some have dubbed the “Oscar” of law blogs: two 2008 CLawBies. The CLawBies, or, Canadian Law Blog Awards, recognize the best in legal blog content. "Doorey’s Workplace Law Blog" tied in the categories of Best New Law Blog and Best Law Professor Blog – he shares this last win with Osgoode Hall Law School’s popular blog "The Court".  

Right: David Doorey

Doorey, who teaches in York’s School of Administrative Studies, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal & Professional Studies, started his blog in an effort to try to engage his students in issues of employment relations and labour law. Doorey is fascinated with this area since it involves the use of law to achieve complex social and economic policies. Recognizing that the law often falls short in this regard, he saw the blog as an opportunity to question why the law fails and explore what laws, if any, would work better. He also saw it as a chance to connect theory to real-life events happening around his students.

“It’s been rewarding to see the number of students that are regular readers and commentators on the blog,” says Doorey. “I regularly receive tips for postings from York students. I’m also surprised by the large following the blog has among non-students, including industrial relations practitioners and workers. I think blogs can be a fantastic learning medium.”

Doorey provides news and opinion pieces on employment issues that include discrimination, wrongful dismissal, layoffs, unionization, collective bargaining and strikes. The blog also includes valuable links to key legislative pieces as well as other blogs that deal with employment and labour issues.

Click here to read Doorey’s blog. For the tie winner in Best Law Professor Blog, see Osgoode’s The Court.