In Amer v Shaw Communications (2023 FCA 237 ) Justice Gleason of the Federal Court of Appeal ruled that it is appropriate for an adjudicator under the Unjust Dismissal section of the Canada Labour Code to order substantial indemnity costs to the winning employee, even where the conduct of the Employer was not exceptionally bad . This is what the Court said: [100] In the case at bar, the appellant was of limited means, earning just under $40,000.00 per year when employed by the respondent. In addition, she was a single parent. Given the amount of damages awarded in the instant case, which were ..read more

In Grimaldi v. CF+D Custom Fireplace Design Inc., 2023 ONSC 6708 Justice Bordin was asked by the Plaintiff to award him vacation pay over the 5.5 months of reasonable notice that he was awarded. This is what the Court ruled : 101] As in Cronk, to award the plaintiff damages for vacation pay, on top of an award of full salary for the period of notice to which he was entitled (which necessarily includes payment of his salary for any vacation he may have taken had he worked during that notice period) is to provide double indemnity, or put another way, to provide compensation for a loss ..read more

In the recent case of Dufault v The Corporation of the Township of Ignace , Justice Pierce held on a number of grounds that the termination clause contradicted the ESA and was thus void. Some of the grounds were new and some were old and well established . Among the old and well established grounds was the 2020 Ontario Court of Appeal case of Waksdale v Sweden North America Inc where the court found that because the common law concept of just cause is different than the higher standard of wilful misconduct under the ESA, a termination provision which states that upon a dismissal for just cause ..read more

In Wall v M.H. Roe Sheet Metal ( no Canli citation yet) Justice Kumaranayake of the Ontario Superior Court found the proper notice period for a 56 year old Office Administrator with 35 years service was 24 months . The only real issue was the Defendants allegation that the Plaintiff failed to conduct a reasonable job search thus the notice period should be reduced. The Judge pointed out that the Defendant must prove that the Plaintiff conducted a less than reasonable search AND that if she had done so she would have obtained comparable employment . In reviewing the evidence the Judge made the ..read more

In Klyn v Pentax Canada Inc., 2024 BCSC 372. Justice Edelman had a situation where the Defendant failed to honour their own termination clause. The result was that the Defendant could not rely on their otherwise enforceable termination clause and thus the Plaintiff was entitled to common law reasonable notice. This is what the Judge said : [6]       The parties agree on the applicable law. Repudiation is a breach of contract by one party giving rise to the right of the other party to terminate the contract and pursue the available remedies for the breach. A b ..read more

In YELLOW PAGES DIGITAL & MEDIA SOLUTIONS v. MASSOUMI ( unreported ) Justice Chalmers had the following fact situation: 1. Claim ( asking for One Million Dollars ) issued and served on Defendant on Day 1. 2. Lawyer for Defendant emails Plaintiff’s counsel on Day 9 and says he is in the process of being retained and wants to talk on the phone . 3. Counsel talk on phone Day 20. 4. Defendant files Defence. on Day 60 and discovers that Plaintiff noted him in default 2 days after their phone call without warning him that he would note him in default. The Judge not only set aside the defaul ..read more

In L.C.C v M.M. ( 2023 HRTO 1138) Adjudicator Lavinia Inbar was dealing with an allegation that the former employee had  breached a settlement agreement by publishing on LinkedIn the following statement : “To all those inquiring, I have come to a resolution in my Human Rights Complaint against [the applicant corporation] and [the individual applicant] for sex discrimination.” The Minutes of Settlement contained the following provisions : Confidentiality: The Applicant may disclose the terms of these Minutes of Settlement to [their] immediate family, legal and financial advisors, on the co ..read more

In De Castro v Arista Homes Ltd ( 2024 ONSC 1035 ) Justice Koehnen had to determine the enforceability  of the following termination clause :If you are terminated for Cause or you have been guilty of wilful misconduct, disobedience, breach of Employment Agreement or wilful neglect of duty that is not trivial and has not been condoned by ARISTA, then ARISTA will be under no further obligation to provide you with pay in lieu of reasonable notice or severance pay whether under statute or common law. For the purposes of this Agreement “Cause” shall include your involvement in any act or omiss ..read more

In  Dufault v. The Corporation of the Township of Ignace, 2024 ONSC 1029, Justice Pierce reviewed the following without cause termination clause : “The Township may at its sole discretion and without cause, terminate this Agreement and the Employee’s employment thereunder at any time upon giving to the Employee written notice as follows:  (i) the Township will continue to pay the Employee’s base salary for a period of two (2) weeks per full year of service to a maximum payment of four (4) months or the period required by the Employment Standards Act, 2000 whichever is greater. Thi ..read more

In Davies v Marks Supply ( no Canli listing yet ) Associate Justice Brown, in a case conference to determine whether a mediation would take place in person or on ZOOM, had this to say about the new provincial Guidelines To Determine Mode of Proceeding that came into force on February 1, 2024. [6] Contrary to the defendants’ submission, the provincial Guidelines To Determine Mode of Proceeding in Civil Matters no longer provide that discoveries and mediation are presumptively in person. The Guidelines were revised effective February 1, 2024 to remove any presumption for out-of-court proceedings ..read more