Under Ontario law an employee terminated without just cause must receive either reasonable notice or pay in lieu. While the Employment Standards Act sets a statutory minimum—such as termination notice and severance pay—it is common law that often provides far greater compensation for longer-serving or...
It is a well founded principle in the law of contracts that once a breach occurs, a plaintiff has an obligation to minimize their damages. In bringing an action against a defendant for breach of contract, a plaintiff would not be allowed to "rack up"...
In Whitten v. Pilot Insurance, the Supreme Court of Canada articulated the purpose, appropriateness and range of punitive damage awards in Canada. An award for punitive damages is only appropriate if conduct is “high-handed, malicious, arbitrary or highly reprehensible ...
The Supreme Court of Canada's recent ruling in IBM Canada Ltd. v. Waterman provides a great deal of clarity on the issue of collateral benefits such as pensions in a wrongful dismissal action and whether such a benefit ought to be deducted from the amount...
In Pate Estate v. Galway-Cavendish and Harvey (Townships), decided in November 2011 after 10 years of protracted litigation, a wrongfully dismissed building inspector's estate was awarded a whopping $550,000.00 in punitive damages against the municipality that had employed him. Pate had served as the Chief Building Official for the Township of Galway...
In Reinzo v. Washington Mills Electro Minerals Corporations, the Court of Appeal for Ontario answers an important question as concerns an employee's entitlement to benefits during the notice period in a wrongful dismissal action: Do they include employer contributions to the Canada Pension Plan and...
In Brito et al v. Canac Kitchens, decided on February 18, 2011, Mr. Justice Randall Echlin of the Ontario Superior Court addressed the consequences of an employer's failure to provide adequate benefit coverages and reasonable pay in lieu of notice to its terminated employees....
The blog post affirms that in Ontario wrongful dismissal cases, employees aren’t restricted to describing only their own experiences; they can also allege patterns or policies of systemic wrongdoing, and such broader allegations may properly support claims for punitive or moral damages—so long as the...
Are wrongful dismissal claims to be considered in calculating equalization payments in Ontario family law proceedings?...
In a very recent wrongful dismissal case, Sebanescu v. Span Manufacturing Ltd., the Court was forced to grapple with the exact relationship between the period of reasonable notice to which an employee is entitled and mitigation of losses. In that case, the Plaintiff, an engineer with three years...
Aggravated damages may be awarded in wrongful dismissal actions on rare occasions to compensate an employee whose damages have been worsened or exacerbated by the employer's misconduct or bad faith upon termination....
The post discusses evolving attitudes toward social media use in the workplace, highlighting two key developments: U.S. NLRB Ruling on Social Media and Worker Rights The National Labor Relations Board found that an EMS worker had the right to discuss workplace conditions on Facebook—even if that meant...
Learn when an Ontario employer can avoid termination notice or pay by demonstrating egregious, deliberate misconduct under ESA Regulation 288/01. Highlights from the Walmart Canada Gray case....
When a non-unionized employee in Ontario is terminated without cause, the employer must promptly provide statutory entitlements under the Employment Standards Act (ESA)—namely, termination pay and severance pay. Termination pay is calculated at up to one week per year of service (capped at 8 weeks),...
In Slater v. Sandwell Incorporated (1994), Ontario courts confirmed that reasonable notice for terminated employees is assessed using the Bardal factors—job type, service length, age, and re-employment prospects—while also considering economic climate and the parties’ expectations. Economic hardship alone, however, does not reduce notice obligations....
In Ontario, non-unionized, non-managerial employees terminated without cause are entitled to reasonable notice—a length determined by the Bardal factors: length of employment, seniority, age, likelihood of securing new work, and the character of their job. For example, in Wallace v. United Grain Growers, a top...
In Love v. Acuity Investments Management Inc. (2011), the Ontario Court of Appeal increased a senior vice-president’s termination notice from five to nine months, underscoring that high-level roles demand longer notice periods. The ruling cautioned against over-emphasizing short service, stressed the importance of the employee’s...