Employee Health and Duty to Mitigate: What Employers Need to Know
Employees who bring forward wrongful dismissal claims have a duty to mitigate the damages claimed by making reasonable efforts to find alternative employment. At times, an employee’s health can impact their ability to search for new work. Background In the recent decision of Marshall v. Mercantile Exchange Corporation 2024 CanLII 71128 (ONSC), the Superior Court […]
Duty of Good Faith Applies to Employees: Court Upholds Termination for Cause
A recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision highlights the importance of the duty of good faith owed by employees and the need for employers to conduct investigations in cases relating to employee misconduct. Background In the case of Arora v. ICICI Bank of Canada, Amit Arora, a long-standing employee with 15 years of service, […]
Simplifying Terminations: Best Practices and Key Takeaways
Making the decision to terminate an employee is difficult in itself. This is often further complicated for small businesses and entrepreneurs who may not have dedicated and experienced HR personnel. However, it is essential for employers to understand the key steps (and key pitfalls) when terminating an employee. Poorly done terminations can drive wrongful dismissal […]
How Not to Terminate an Employee
As illustrated in the recent British Columbia Supreme Court decision Chu v China Southern Airlines Company Limited, 2023 BCSC 21, efforts to unfairly deprive employees of their severance can be more expensive than the severance itself. In this case, the employer’s conduct both before and after termination resulted in an award of aggravated and punitive […]
Addressing ‘Quiet Firing’ in The Workplace
The newly emerged concept of quiet quitting has gone viral on social media. For the purpose of this blog, ‘quiet quitting’ occurs when an employee stops being engaged in the workplace and taking initiative in their work, fulfilling only the bare minimum requirements of their assigned tasks. Essentially, the employee disconnects emotionally from their job. […]
Lessons Learned from Lisa LaFlamme Termination
The recent and abrupt termination of News Anchor Lisa LaFlamme from CTV News has garnered significant media attention, largely for the manner in which her termination was handled. Shortly after CTV News issued a media release stating that a business decision had been made to terminate her employment, LaFlamme unexpectedly shared her own Twitter video […]
Manitoba Court of Appeal Confirms No Common Law Duty to Investigate
Manitoba Court of Appeal Confirms No Common Law Duty to Investigate In McCallum v Saputo (2021 MBCA 62), the Manitoba Court of Appeal confirmed that an employer does not have an obligation to investigate wrongdoing prior to terminating an employee, even if the termination is for cause. Terminating an employee for cause has been […]