Author: Amy Loo
Alberta Court of Appeal Overturns Trial Court Decision on Good Faith Requirement when Dismissing an Employee without Cause
The Alberta Court of Appeal has rolled back a controversial trial court decision which had applied recent developments in the law to award damages to a dismissed employee for the lost opportunity to earn a payment under a long-term incentive plans (LTIP). We had previously written about the Albert Court’s ruling in Styles v. Albert […] Read more
No Resignation + No Failure to Mitigate = Damages
An employee who emailed his manager that he “will not be returning” did not quit, according to a recent BC Supreme Court decision. Mark Bishop was a 61 year old buyer for an electrical products retailer, Rexel Canada Electrical, with more than 27 years’ service. He felt overloaded with work. When his manager, King, sent […] Read more
Court Finds Employer/Employee Relationship notwithstanding Contract between Two Corporations
The BC Supreme Court recently held that a contract between two corporations was essentially a contract of employment and awarded severance on termination of the contract. The court held that Tim Fernback, working through his incorporated entity TCV Ventures Corp. (“TCV”), was essentially an employee of Cambie Malone’s Corporation (“CMC”) and entitled to reasonable notice […] Read more
Employee Failed to Mitigate after Rejecting Full-time Work in Favour of a Part-time Position
An employee’s entitlement to severance arising from her wrongful dismissal ended when she accepted employment from a new employer on a part-time basis, even though the new employer offered her full-time work. In Schinnerl v. Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 2016 BCSC 2026, the B.C. Supreme Court found that by turning down full-time work, Ms. Schinnerl had […] Read more
Failure to Mitigate Results in Reduced Damages for Wrongfully Dismissed Employees
The BC Supreme Court held that where a plaintiff makes no or minimal efforts to mitigate after being wrongfully dismissed, the employer may be relieved of the obligation to prove that reasonable efforts may have yielded employment. In Logan v. Numbers Cabaret Ltd. (c.o.b. Hamburger Mary’s), 2016 BCSC 1473, the Court reduced the award of […] Read more
YEAR-LONG HIATUS AND HANDBOOK DID NOT LIMIT EMPLOYEE’S LENGTH OF SERVICE OR SEVERANCE
An employer was not permitted to discount an employee’s period of employment due to her break in employment when determining her severance entitlement because the employer had agreed to recognize her earlier service. Further, an employee handbook which purported to limit her severance did not have contractual force. In Cheong v. Grand Pacific Travel & […] Read more
New Lobbyist Act goes into Effect in Saskatchewan
On August 23, 2016, Saskatchewan’s Lobbyist Act was proclaimed, making Saskatchewan the last of the four Western provinces to enact lobbyist legislation. Administered by the Office of the Registrar of Lobbyists, the Act is intended to ensure that all lobbyists who are attempting to influence public office holders register their activities in the registry database. […] Read more
Supreme Court of Canada: Federally Regulated Employees Protected From Most without Cause Terminations
The Supreme Court of Canada has recently resolved conflicting case law to hold that federally regulated employees cannot be dismissed without cause, absent a lay off due to “lack of work” or the “discontinuance of a function”. Under the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”), which applies to federally regulated employers, a non-union employee in a […] Read more
