On June 15, 2010, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruled that Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. wrongfully terminated the employment of Frank Naccarato, one of its return-to-vendor clerks.

Naccarato began to work for Costco in 1990, but became depressed and began sick leave in July 2002. Four years later, Costco stopped his long-term disability benefits, and ultimately terminated his employment in July 2007. Costco alleged a frustration of the employment contract, citing written comments by Naccarato’s doctor indicating that Naccarato’s return to work could not be predicted. read more »

Two high-ranking public servants moved forward on reform plans designed to save Public Works billions of dollars. The future looked bright. But suddenly in August 2006, both were publicly vilified and handed their pink slips. As a result of their termination, the two individuals sued the federal government for wrongful dismissal. 

A 108-page decision of adjudicator Dan Quigley of the Public Service Labour Relations Board revealed damning tidbits such as the government’s refusal to hand over documents, evidence that called some government testimony into question, and emails revealing plots to remove the two servants.

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A worker informs her employer that she’s been diagnosed with cancer and plans to work up to the day before her surgery. She assumes she’ll have a job to return to, but the employer says that she resigned. Was she wrongfully terminated?

51-year old leasing agent, Elsa Torrejon had worked with Weston Property Management Corp. of Toronto for six months before discovering a lump in her breast in the fall of 2008. After undergoing testing and mentioning the situation to her employer, the cancer was confirmed a few months later in February 2009. It was at this point that Torrejon informed her employers of her plan to work up to the day before her scheduled surgery. She assumed that her job was secure.

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A former employee has filed a $523,000 claim with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice for wrongful dismissal and personal damages.

Lisa Rundle, a former director for Penguin Canada, claims that the company terminated her employment following her complaints of sexual harassment by former president, David Davidar. read more »

An employee who held the position of Vice President of Sales and was paid a salary of $536,365.00 per year was awarded 12 months notice for being wrongfully dismissed by his employer.

The employer dismissed the employee alleging cause on the basis that the employee stole carpet from his employer and had it installed at his home at the employer’s cost. The employer also alleged that the employee caused the employer to substitute a lower quality steel for the steel specified in the purchase order of one of the employer’s customers. read more »

In January 2010, Statistics Canada released information which indicated that the unemployment rate in Canada was at 8.5 %. By the end of March 2010, this number has dropped by a further 0.3%.

Despite this slight dip in unemployment, approximately 18,000 new jobs were created throughout the country during the month of March, with the majority of these jobs being part-time. read more »

A recent photograph taken by a TTC traveler on January 8, 2010 has gone viral on the internet. The photo depicts a TTC employee sleeping on the job inside a ticket both. This photo brings up many employment law issues, including employment termination, wrongful dismissal and termination for cause.

Employees who are on the “front-lines” of an employer’s business are the face of the business and any form of insubordination by these employees, such as sleeping on the job, reflects poorly on the employer’s business as a whole. Such conduct may be grounds for termination for cause since the ramifications of such insubordination may have detrimental effects on the employer’s business. read more »

Bunker v. Georgetown Chrysler (1993) Ltd. – Ontario Superior Court of Justice – July 27, 2009

If a terminating employer makes an offer of continued employment, the employee will not be considered to have failed to mitigate their damages by making a counter proposal rather than accepting the employer’s initial offer.

The recent decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on July 27, 2009 in Bunker v. Georgetown Chrysler (1993) Ltd. [2009] O.J. No. 3912 (“Bunker”) provides that an employer may not be able to claim that a terminated employee has failed to fulfill their duty to mitigate by not accepting the employer’s initial offer of continued employment, but instead responded to the employer’s offer with their own proposal of continuous employment. read more »

Rejdak v. The Fight Network Inc. – Ontario Superior Court of Justice – July 29, 2008

An oral contract which precedes a written agreement will govern the employment relationship if there is no fresh consideration given in the written agreement and the employee acted on the oral contract to the point of not being able to refuse the written agreement.

The July 29, 2008 decision by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Rejdak v. The Fight Network Inc. [2008] O.J. No. 2995 (“Rejdak”) indicates that an oral employment contract will be found to govern the employment relationship instead of a written agreement that is signed later if there is no fresh consideration given to the employee in the second agreement and if the employee acted on the original agreement to the point of not being able to refuse the terms of the written agreement. read more »

Movileanu v. Valcom Manufacturing Group Inc. – Ontario Superior Court of Justice – November 15, 2007

An employee can retract their resignation of employment as long as the employer has not suffered any expense or taken any actions to its detriment due to the employee resigning. read more »