In Gannon v. Kinsdale Carriers, the Ontario Superior Court recently considered what constitutes “comparable employment” for the purpose of mitigation of reasonable notice damages. The plaintiff was employed by the defendant, a federally regulated trucking company, for 23 years. At the time of her termination from employment, the plaintiff held a role that included accounts…
Tag: Wrongful Dismissal
Beyond COVID-19: 2022 Year in Review – Cases and Legislation of Note
Employers and human resource professionals will undoubtedly remember 2022 as another year shaped by the pandemic.
But…there were also legal developments in 2022 that were not related to COVID-19. In this FTR Now, we look at some of the past year’s notable “non-pandemic” cases and legislative developments.
COVID-19 Year-End Edition
As we near the end of 2022, we reflect back on a year filled with virtual environments, increased connections and a renewed focus on wellness as we made it through another year since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. The pandemic has had a broad-ranging impact on employment law since March 2020. To wrap up…
British Columbia Court of Appeal Finds Canada Emergency Response Benefit Not Deductible from Wrongful Dismissal Damages
On November 29, 2022, the British Columbia Court of Appeal released Yates v. Langley Motor Sport Centre Ltd., in which the Court of Appeal ruled that payments received by an employee under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) should not be deducted from wrongful dismissal damages. The Court of Appeal held that broader policy considerations,…
Appellate Court Substantially Reduces Reasonable Notice Award for Failure to Mitigate
In Humphrey v. Mene Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal found that a dismissed employee failed in her duty to mitigate by rejecting a comparable job offer with a new employer seven months following her termination of employment. The former employee, who had been the employer’s Chief Operating Officer, was 32 years old when her…
Appellate Court Confirms 26 Month Reasonable Notice Period in Case with Exceptional Circumstances
On March 14, 2022, in Currie v. Nylene Canada Inc., the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the decision of a trial judge to award a 26-month reasonable notice period to an employee following her without cause dismissal by the employer. The employer had appealed the trial judge decision to the Ontario Court of Appeal on…
Ontario Court Denies Injunctive Relief Pending Action Challenging Employer’s Vaccination Policy
On October 29, 2021, Justice Dunphy of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice declined to extend emergency injunctive relief to a group of University Health Network (UHN) employees, seeking reprieve from UHN’s Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccination Policy (Policy) which required employees to either become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by October 22, 2021, or be terminated from…
Appellate Court Upholds Cause Termination for Sexual Harassment
The Ontario Court of Appeal has found that an employer had cause to terminate the employment of a senior employee who had sexually harassed a co-worker and refused to take the remedial steps required by the employer. It reversed a lower court decision which found that the employee had been wrongfully dismissed and awarded 20…
British Columbia Supreme Court Finds CERB Amounts Should Be Deducted from Wrongful Dismissal Damages
On May 28, 2021, the British Columbia Supreme Court (Court) released its decision in Hogan v. 1187938 B.C. Ltd., finding that the plaintiff had been constructively dismissed after being temporarily laid off at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic by the defendant, which operated a car dealership (Dealership). The plaintiff was laid off on March…
Court Awards 5 Months’ Notice to Plaintiff with 4.5 Months’ Service and Who Was Pregnant at Time of Dismissal
In a recent summary judgment decision, Nahum v. Honeycomb Hospitality Inc., the Ontario Superior Court awarded 5 months’ reasonable notice to a plaintiff with 4.5 months’ service. In doing so, the Court found that the fact that the plaintiff was 5 months pregnant at the time of termination was an “important factor” in assessing her…