Workplace Sage Legal

About Workplace Sage Legal

Workplace Sage Legal is a Toronto based employment law practice that, per its own site, represents employees only and doesn't take on employer side work. Founder Stephanie McDonald earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Western Ontario, gaining early litigation experience through the school's legal clinic. Articling and early practice followed at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, described on Workplace Sage's own site as the largest plaintiff side employment law firm in Canada, before a move to Milburn & Associates to focus on executive employment work involving commissions, bonuses, deferred compensation, and equity based pay. McDonald then opened Workplace Sage Legal, citing a wish to practice in a more authentic, values aligned way; the firm's about page describes McDonald as neurodivergent and a member of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community.

The practice calls its approach human-first and trauma-informed, built around clients dealing with terminations, medical or stress leave, and severance negotiations. Its work covers severance packages, wrongful and constructive dismissal, and workplace human rights matters, argued when needed before Ontario's Superior Court of Justice, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the Ontario Labour Relations Board. The firm also produces a podcast, Workplace Confidential, and keeps a blog on Ontario employment law topics. Its office is in the 2 Bloor East tower at Yonge and Bloor, and it serves clients across Ontario and Canada, not just one city.