A recent decision from the BC Supreme Court highlights how a hiatus from working with an employer may impact an employee’s entitlement to notice or pay in lieu thereof upon termination. Facts In Shultz v. Prococious Technology Inc., 2022 BCSC 1420, the plaintiff employee had a long-term association with the defendant employer in various capacities, ...
In Nader v. University Health Network, 2022 ONSC 447, Nader brought a summary judgment application for damages related to his termination of employment. The key issue was the effect of a secondment for 2 years, and whether it altered, replaced, or was supplementary to an original employment agreement executed by the parties. For reference, a ...
Following up on my last blog post regarding Chu v. China Southern Airlines and an award of $100,000 in punitive damages against an employer for their conduct during the course of litigation, reasons for judgment in Fanzone v. 516400 B.C. Ltd. 2022 BCSC 2089 have been released. The decision in Fanzone cautions that the employer’s ...
The year has kicked off with an award of significant enhanced damages in a wrongful dismissal claim. While it is not uncommon for dismissed employees to seek aggravated and punitive damages following their termination, these are damages that are not commonly awarded and when they are, they tend to be in modest amounts. That trend ...
BC Court of Appeal says CERB payments are not deductible from severance award
A lot of things have changed in workplaces since March 2020 when the COVID 19 pandemic began.
In Parmar v Tribe Management, a BC Supreme Court judge had to consider whether a mandatory vaccination policy was reasonable. This is the first decision in BC where a judge decided this question in a non-union setting. Facts The plaintiff, Ms. Parmar, was an accounting professional. The employer, Tribe Management, provided condominium management services. Its ...
A recent BC Supreme Court case highlights how employees have an obligation to mitigate their damages by searching for comparable employment after termination. The case also confirms that 24-months is the upper limit of common law reasonable notice in BC. Facts In Okano v. Cathay Pacific Airways Limited, 2022 BCSC 881, the plaintiff, Ms. Okano, was ...
In a recent decision of Hussey v. Bell Mobility Inc., 2022 FCA 95, the Federal Court of Appeal confirmed that there are two options for adjudicators when assessing damages in lieu of reinstatement in the context of unjust dismissal complaints. For context, federally regulated employees are protected by the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”), instead ...
In the recent Nelson v. Goodberry Restaurant Group Ltd. dba Buono Osteria and others, 2021 BCHRT 137 case, the BC Human Rights Tribunal (“Tribunal”) considered a complaint by an employee who asked to be addressed by “they/them” pronouns. The employee, Jessie Nelson, was a non-binary person who used they/them pronouns. Jessie worked at a ...
