One of the less desirable parts of being an employer involves sometimes being forced to terminate staff members. While awkward and often painful termination meetings cannot be avoided, a potential claim for damages for wrongful dismissal can generally be sidestepped with a few simply preemptive steps. Employers are well advised to understand their obligations to…
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The Supreme Court of British Columbia recently released its Reasons for Judgment in Ensign v. Price Alarm Systems (2009) Ltd., 2017 BCSC 2137, where an employer’s multiple, but clearly disingenuous offers to re-employ a terminated long-term employee attracted aggravated damages as well as damages for wrongful termination. The Details of the Case The plaintiff,…
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The British Columbia Court of Appeal recently weighed in on the calculation of employment income earned by a plaintiff during the reasonable notice period in Pakozdi v. B & B Heavy Civil Construction Ltd., 2018 BCCA 23 (CanLII). In its decision the Court of Appeal addressed a situation where a terminated employee was not…
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A unilateral, material and significant change to the employment relationship can lead to a claim of constructive dismissal. Constructive dismissal happens when an employee resigns from their position because the employer has, without warning, materially altered the employment relationship or created such a hostile work environment that it is impossible for the employee to…
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The issue of whether a terminated employee is entitled to receive a discretionary performance-based bonus was addressed in a recent decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Singer v. Nordstrong Equipment Limited, 2017 ONSC 5906 (CanLII). Normally in employment law, a terminated employee must be put in the same position during the reasonable…
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If you have just been terminated from your employment, once the initial shock has worn off, your likely first step will be to search the internet for an employment lawyer in your area to help you understand your termination and to determine if the termination/severance package is appropriate for your employment history and circumstance.…
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A lawsuit, Lewis v. WestJet Airlines Ltd, 2017 BCSC 2327 (CanLII) commenced by a former WestJet flight attendant against her former employer will be proceeding despite efforts by WestJet to have the case dismissed. WestJet brought an Application to Strike the Notice of Civil Claim brought by Mandalena Lewis, who proposed to bring a…
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In an interesting decision out of Ontario, the Court found that an employee who over-stated his work experience on his resume and limited his job searches to only managerial positions failed to properly mitigate his damages after his termination. In Skov v. G&K Services Canada Inc (2017 ONSC 6752), Justice Diamond of the Ontario Superior…
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Introduction A franchise is the right to conduct business in a way that mirrors an already successful business and using the public image cultivated by that business. Recent years have seen the rapid development of the use of franchise structures in all types of businesses, from curbside hotdog vending to large scale manufacturing. This type…
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In Canada, every employment relationship is defined by an employment contract. Sometimes these contracts are written out, however, many employment contracts are implied. Simply put, an implied employment contract are the terms, conditions, and expectations defining the relationship between an employee and an employer. If a non-unionized employee does not have a written employment contract,…
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