Constructive dismissal is one of the most confusing areas of employment law. Not all employer conduct is sufficient to trigger a legitimate claim for constructive dismissal and conduct that would otherwise seem innocuous may trigger a legitimate claim. What is Constructive Dismissal? Constructive dismissal happens when an employee resigns from their position because the employer…
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While the general rule of thumb for the maximum reasonable notice that a court will award to a terminated employee hovered around 24 months. Regardless of the length of service or other factors, the line in the sand for maximum reasonable notice has slowly eroded over the past few years, particularly in Ontario Courts. This…
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As of October 17, 2018, cannabis is legal in Canada. The Cannabis Act ensures a strict legal framework for controlling the production, distribution, sale, and possession of cannabis. It is subject to provincial or territorial restrictions. In British Columbia , the legal age to possess or use cannabis is 19 years of age or older.…
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One of the most discussed recent employment law decisions of the last year has to be Galea v. Wal-Mart Canada Corp., 2017 ONSC 245. Since its release on December 7, 2017, the decision has become the benchmark in employment law as what employer conduct will attract punitive damages. Wal-Mart Canada was ordered to pay the…
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In McLeod v. Frontier Sales, 2018 ONSC 1866, the Divisional Court of Ontario dismissed the appeal by an employer who provided working notice to an employee on disability leave and in turn, sought to reduce the amount of reasonable notice that it was required to provide. The case confirms that working notice provided during a…
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In a recent case out of Ontario, Chambers v. Global Traffic Technologies Canada Inc., 2018 ONSC 2000, the court maintained that bonuses earned by an employee prior to termination or during the reasonable notice period are, in fact, payable to the employee despite their being terminated from his/her employment. Additionally, the court awarded nine months’…
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In a recent Ontario Court of Appeal decision, Sataur et al. v. Starbucks Coffee Canada Inc. et al., 2017 ONCA 1017, the liability of an employee’s wrongdoing, even during the course of their employment, was deemed to potentially attract personal liability, rather than shifting the liability to the employer. The plaintiff in this case, Sataur…
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In a recent decision, Dussault and Pugliese v. Imperial Oil Limited, 2018 ONSC 1168, the court addressed the issue of the need for a plaintiff to mitigate their damages on termination and whether an offer by the successor company of the employer defendant of re-employment constituted reasonable mitigation. At the time of the termination, the…
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On March 7, 2018, a decision was released by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in which the court awarded a terminated employee damages equal to 18 months’ pay although the employee had only been employed for a little over 6 years. By all Canadian standards, this case demonstrates an extremely high notice requirement for…
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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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