In Breen v Foremost Industries Ltd, 2023 ABKB 552, the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta dismissed the claim of a President and CEO that he had been wrongfully dismissed from his employment, finding that his employment had...more
10/24/2023
/ Breach of Duty ,
Canada ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employees ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Personal Liability ,
Punitive Damages ,
Wrongful Termination
In Dove v Destiny Media Technologies Inc., 2023 BCSC 1032 , the Supreme Court of British Columbia found that an employer had just cause for the dismissal of a full-time employee who worked on a side business during working...more
An arbitrator recently issued the first award in Ontario to address and uphold the reasonableness of a hospital vaccination policy that provides for the termination of employment for non-compliance. In Lakeridge Health and...more
6/8/2023
/ Arbitration ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Unions ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety ,
Wrongful Termination
In Teljeur v Aurora Hotel Group, 2023 ONSC 1324, a wrongful dismissal case, the court awarded the plaintiff-employee seven months’ damages for reasonable notice, and $15,000 in moral damages due to the employer’s bad-faith...more
In a successful wrongful dismissal claim for $18,647, the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Austin v Kitsumkalum First Nation, 2020 BCSC 2298, awarded the employee an additional $15,000 for aggravated damages because the...more
In Reotech Construction Ltd. v Snider, 2022 BCSC 317 (Reotech), the Supreme Court of British Columbia found that the trial court erred when it did not deduct the employee’s $9,000 Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)...more
In Shalagin v. Mercer Celgar Limited Partnership, 2022 BCSC 112 (Mercer), the Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed an employee’s wrongful dismissal claim and held that his surreptitious recording of conversations with...more
In 2021, Canada saw significant statutory and case law developments in labour and employment law, some of which related to COVID-19. This Insight provides an overview of key 2021 developments, with links to more detailed...more
12/17/2021
/ Canada ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
New Legislation ,
Unpaid Wages ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Harassment Guidance ,
Workplace Violence ,
Wrongful Termination
On October 29, 2021, in Blake v. University Health Network, 2021 ONSC 7139 (Blake), the Ontario Superior Court of Justice discontinued an interim injunction that it had issued on October 22, 2021, staying the terminations of...more
11/10/2021
/ Canada ,
Collective Agreements ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Litigation ,
Employment Policies ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Injunctions ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Stays ,
Unions ,
Wrongful Termination
In Goruk v. Greater Barrie Chamber of Commerce, 2021 ONSC 5005, the Ontario Superior Court found that the Chamber of Commerce (COC) was justified in dismissing with cause a 75-year-old, long-term employee with no prior...more
10/7/2021
/ Books & Records ,
Breach of Duty ,
Canada ,
Employee Misconduct ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fiduciary ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Ontario ,
Termination for Cause ,
Wrongful Termination
In a wrongful dismissal claim in Ontario, it is up to the employer to prove that employees failed to mitigate their damages and that had they taken reasonable steps to do so, they would have likely obtained equivalent or...more
6/29/2021
/ Bonuses ,
Canada ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Mitigation ,
Notice Requirements ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
To date, few decisions in Canada have considered whether the amount of the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) employees receive after their job termination should be deducted from their damages in lieu of common law...more
6/9/2021
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Canada ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Damages ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair-Notice Standard ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Layoffs ,
Wrongful Termination
In Perretta v. Rand A Technology Corporation, 2021 ONSC 2111, Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice ordered an employer to pay an employee damages for reasonable notice at common law when it decided the employer repudiated its...more
In Anderson v Total Instant Lawns Ltd, 2021 ONSC 2933 (Total Instant Lawns), an employee claimed her job was terminated and sought damages for wrongful dismissal. The employer denied the employee was dismissed and argued...more
5/13/2021
/ Breach of Contract ,
Canada ,
Contract Terms ,
Counterclaims ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Ontario ,
Repudiation ,
Wrongful Termination
A recent Ontario Superior Court decision, Kerner v. Information Builders (Canada) Inc., 2020 ONSC 2975, clarified whether an employee was entitled to commissions that were “booked and billed” after his job termination, but...more
9/22/2020
/ Canada ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Notice Requirements ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Sales Commissions ,
Wrongful Termination
Recently, in Bank of Montreal v. Li, 2020 FCA 22, the Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) dismissed the Bank of Montreal’s (BMO’s) appeal of the decision of the Federal Court (FC) in Bank of Montreal v. Li, 2018 FC 1298....more
In a recent appeal to the Divisional Court of Ontario’s Superior Court in Shete, Lada, and Chung v. Bombardier Inc., 2019 ONSC 4083, the court applied the most basic principle that serves as the foundation of common law...more
12/20/2019
/ Canada ,
Common Law Claims ,
Contract Terms ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Employment Standards Act ,
Legal Fees ,
Ontario ,
Reimbursements ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Settlement Negotiations ,
Statement of Claim ,
Termination ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wrongful Termination
The Federal Court of Canada recently confirmed in Bank of Montreal v. Li, 2018 FC 1298 CanLII (Bank of Montreal), that an employee’s signed release and settlement agreement will not preclude a complaint for unjust dismissal...more
In a new Ontario Court of Appeal case, the appellate court upheld the trial court’s judgment in favor of the plaintiff in the amount of $60,000 for moral damages, $55,849 for wrongful dismissal, $25,000 in human rights...more