Labour and Employment Law Blog

In the recent decision of Lefebvre v Gisborne Holdings Ltd., 2023 BCSC 2231, the BC Supreme Court (The Court) found that Gisborne Holdings Ltd. (the Employer) did not have cause to dismiss a fixed-term contract employee and awarded $81,100 CAD in damages.

Ms. Lefebvre, the dismissed employee, was hired under a fixed-term contract to replace an employee on parental leave ...

The BC Supreme Court recently affirmed the high threshold required of employers when purporting to dismiss an employee for just cause. In Chu v China Southern Airlines Company Limited, 2023 BCSC 21, the court found that the plaintiff employee had been dismissed without cause and awarded $150,000 in aggravated and punitive damages in addition to the 20 months reasonable ...

In Yates v. Langley Motor Sport Centre Ltd., 2022 BCCA 398 the British Columbia Court of Appeal (“BCAA”) recently resolved much of the uncertainty surrounding whether or not payments received under the Canada Emergency Response Benefit program (“CERB”) could be deducted from damages awarded for wrongful dismissal.

The BCCA unanimously held that CERB payments ...

In A-Teck Appraisals Ltd. v Constandinou, 2020 BCSC 135 (“Constandinou”), the B.C. Supreme Court stayed a wrongful dismissal action on the basis that it was precluded by the arbitration clause in the former employee’s employment contract. The B.C. court took a different approach than the Ontario Court of Appeal in Heller v. Uber Technologies Inc. et al, 2019 ONCA 1 ...

A recent BC Supreme Court case is yet another reminder that courts will carefully scrutinize any term which purports to displace an employee’s common law entitlement to reasonable notice of termination of employment, particularly where the term has not been clearly and unambiguously communicated and accepted by the employee. Employers can contract out of the ...

The Ontario Court of Appeal in Ruston v. Keddco Mfg (2011) Ltd., 2019 ONCA 125, upheld the lower court’s decision awarding over $1.1 million in damages in a wrongful dismissal action.

Facts

Mr. Ruston, the President of Keddco, was terminated after 11 years of service. At the termination meeting, Mr. Ruston was advised that his employment was terminated for cause because he ...

In the recent Ontario decision Cook v. Hatch, 2017 ONSC 47, Lederer J. wrote that "if the parties to a contract seek to limit the notice requirements in the event of a termination but understand that they are bound by the minimum requirements of the applicable legislation, such a provision is not difficult to draft."

Nevertheless, drafting effective termination clauses that ...