Fiona Wong

Fiona Wong is an associate at Overholt LLP and practices in the firm’s core areas of employment, civil litigation, and human rights law. She has advised clients appearing before the Civil Resolution Tribunal and represented clients at the BC Provincial Court and BC Supreme Court. In doing so, she draws from her experiences of working at national full-service and employment firms. Fiona is from Hong Kong and is pleased to assist clients in Cantonese where required. She looks forward to advising both employee and employer clients on employment-related matters at Overholt LLP.

Outside of work, Fiona enjoys planning her next trip, dining at new restaurants, keeping up with her spin instructor, and snowboarding. She is also a Vice President of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers BC, where she helped produce an award-winning documentary, But I Look Like a Lawyer, and launched a FACL BC podcast featuring Asian-Canadian lawyers on a monthly basis. Before embarking on her legal career, Fiona worked as a flight attendant.

While in law school, Fiona served on the faculty’s admissions committee and founded the First Generation Network at the University of Victoria, an organization dedicated to reducing barriers for students who are first in their family to attend post-secondary educational institutions. Fiona’s passion for labour and employment law started while working as a client service representative at WorkSafeBC (Workers’ Compensation Board), where she assisted injured workers with initiating WorkSafeBC claims. As a student, Fiona participated in the Hicks Morley Labour Moot, and the rest is history.

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Bar Admissions

British Columbia, 2021

Education

University of Victoria, Faculty of Law

- Juris Doctor, 2020

University of Windsor, Faculty of Law (Transfer)

Juris Doctor Candidate, 2017-2018
Competed in the 2018 Hicks Morley Labour Moot

University of British Columbia, Faculty of Arts

Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations, 2016

Honours and Awards

Best Podcast, Canadian Law Blog Awards (Clawbies), 2022
Best Innovative Project, Canadian Law Blog Awards (Clawbies), 2021
Irving K. Barber One World Scholarship, The Victoria Foundation, 2014
Wei Lun Foundation Exchange Scholarship, Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2014

Professional Memberships

Canadian Bar Association – BC Branch, Member
Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (British Columbia) Society, Member
Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, Member

Representative Cases

Successfully represented a strata corporation in the recovery of a $75,000 insurance deductible from an owner for a water damage claim: The Owners, Strata Plan BCS 2781 v. Ha, 2022 BCCRT 323

Recent Publications

Failure to mitigate: Long-time manager sees notice reduced, Canadian HR Reporter, June 8, 2022 (Interview)
New FACL BC Documentary Highlights Anti-Asian Discrimination and Bias in the British Columbia Legal Community, The Advocate, Volume 79, Part 5, September 2021
Why We Should Care About the Rise of Anti-Asian Racism, the “Model Minority” Myth and the “Bamboo Ceiling, The Verdict, Issue 170, August 26, 2021
Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccine Policy Primer for General Contractors, The Generals, Spring/Summer 2021
Sick, Lies, and Questionnaire: Arbitrators Uphold Terminations of Employees Who Breached COVID-19 Safety Protocols, LexisNexis Employment and Labour Law Reporter, Volume 30, No. 11, February 2021

Recent Speaking Engagements

NALP Annual Education Conference, But I Look Like a Lawyer: Documentary Screening and Fireside Chat, April 27, 2023
FACL BC – “Women’s Social”, June 22, 2022 (Panelist)
FACL BC – “Practicing in the US“, April 8, 2022 (Moderator)
Thompson Rivers University Faculty of Law, First Generation Network – “Navigating the Legal Profession as a First-Generation Lawyer”, February 16, 2022 (Panelist)
University of British Columbia Peter A. Allard School of Law – First Year Moot Judge, February 15, 2022
Beyond the A – “Resilience After Rejection” (OCI’s and Hirebacks), November 27, 2021 (Panelist)
FACL BC – “The Socially Distanced Network: Building Relationships in the COVID-19 Era“, January 8, 2021 (Moderator)
University of Victoria Faculty of Law, Pan-Asian Law Students Society – “Recent Events in Hong Kong”, February 11, 2020 (Panelist)

Community Involvement/Volunteerism

Canadian Bar Association, National Law Students Section, Outreach Officer (2020 to 2021)
Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, New Lawyers Planning Committee Member (2021 to present)
Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers (British Columbia) Society, Vice President Marketing (formerly Student Director and Membership Committee Chair, 2019 to 2022)

Practice Areas

Featured Article

The Growing Cost to Employers for Failing to Accommodate Disabled Employees

4 ways employers violate employees’ privacy

The right to privacy is something that Canadians take very seriously - it is a fundamental right. This includes privacy in the workplace. We have strict laws to protect both employers and employees regarding privacy, but some employers make mistakes or poor judgements...