Lola
Ayotunde

Lola Ayotunde

Lola is a lawyer, law professor, workplace investigator, mediator, and arbitrator with extensive experience in human rights, labour and employment law, dispute resolution, and administrative decision-making. She holds a Ph.D. in Law and an LL.M. from the University of Saskatchewan. She is a member of the Law Society of British Columbia and the Law Society of Saskatchewan.

Lola is an Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria Faculty of Law, where she teaches Torts and Labour Law. Before joining UVic, she worked in labour, employment, and human rights law, including as a Lawyer, Privacy Officer and Systemic Advocacy Investigator with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and as an in-house Labour Relations Advisor with Federated Co-operatives Limited. She brings the rigour of academic legal analysis together with practical experience advising organizations, representing parties, conducting investigations, and resolving workplace disputes as a neutral investigator and lawyer with the Commission.

In addition to her scholarly work on the protection of human rights and regulation of work, Lola has an extensive background in workplace investigations, workplace training, mediation, and systemic discrimination investigations. She has adjudicative experience as a former panel member of the Property Assessment Board of Revision for the City of Saskatoon, where she heard appeals and contributed to written tribunal decisions.

Services

Labour Arbitration

Lola brings her in-depth experience in human rights, labour and employment law, together with her academic expertise, to serve parties as a neutral arbitrator in grievances arising under collective agreements.

Mediation

Lola assists parties in resolving disputes and voluntarily reaching settlement through mediation in unionized and non-unionized workplaces. Her approach is focused on supporting healthy, respectful, and inclusive work environments.

Workplace Investigations

We conduct independent workplace investigations into complex workplace incidents or disputes. Our investigations are impartial, trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and grounded in procedural fairness. We support organizations in identifying and addressing workplace issues and working toward practical and sustainable resolutions.

Investigations may involve:

discrimination and human rights complaints;
harassment, bullying, and workplace violence;
poisoned or hostile work environment allegations;
abuse of authority or misuse of position;
conflicts of interest;
breach of privacy interests, workplace policies or codes of conduct; and
retaliation or reprisal concerns.

Courses and Trainings

With extensive experience in human rights, employment, and labour law, Lola provides interactive training programs tailored to your organizational policies, workplace realities, and unique business needs. As an academic and labour law professor, she helps make complex legal obligations and workplace standards understandable, practical, and useful for day-to-day operations.

Lola provides training for unions, employees, management teams, and public bodies on topics including:

maintaining discrimination-free and respectful workplaces;
understanding human rights, employment, and labour standards;
compliance with human rights obligations and the duty to accommodate;
promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace;
workplace bullying, harassment and violence prevention;
respecting privacy rights in the workplace;
best practices in workplace investigations; and

grievance handling and labour relations fundamentals

Workplace Policy Development & Review

We help organizations develop and revise workplace policies so they are clear and comply with legal standards. Our policy work is informed by labour, employment, human rights, privacy, and administrative law principles.