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Constructive Dismissal Articles
Boss' criticisms can be perilous
Today, much of the workforce views a manager's criticism as "bullying" or "harassment". As toxic bosses have become a greater liability, their employees no longer call their doctors seeking a note for a leave of absence. Now they call their lawyers. But as harassment is often in the eyes of the beholder, when will a tough boss justify a successful lawsuit? ...[read more]
Constructive Dismissal Proves Costly
Sometimes, serious changes to your job may have to be accepted. Just ask David Chapman. Working his way up the Bank of Nova Scotia’s corporate ladder for 36 years, Chapman resigned claiming a reduction in his salary and the Bank’s failure to honour a promise amounted to his termination. The Court decided otherwise. ...[read more]
Constructive Dismissal Proves Costly
Jean-Louis Drapeau was the consummate company man. But when his job was gradually eroded, his loyalty quickly turned to fury. Believing that his demotion was tantamount to a dismissal, Drapeau fled and then proceeded to sue his ex-employer. His belief was vindicated at trial. ...[read more]
Court’s judgment a sign of the times
Employers cannot adapt to new economic constraints at the expense of fundamental employee rights....[read more]
Drafting employment contracts
Employers often take a kitchen sink approach to drafting employment contracts. They bargain for excessive protection, no matter how junior or administrative the employee. However, in seeking such protection, they sometimes get none at all. ...[read more]
Employee bound by agreement he didn't agree to
The golden years are not always golden. Just ask Stuart Johnson. Nearing his 65th birthday and 40th year with his company, Johnson could have been celebrating. Instead, he was told that company policy required him to retire. But Johnson, the on-air operations manager for Global Television in Victoria, B.C., didn’t believe he had agreed to mandatory retirement at age 65 and argued that it wasn’t a term of his employment. The court decided otherwise....[read more]
Employee privacy rights
What happens when employee privacy rights collide with an employer’s right to monitor its workplace? Courts are frequently asked to rule on the delicate balance between an employee’s right to privacy and an employer’s right to manage the workplace. While employers do retain the right to monitor their employees, that exercise must only be performed in good faith and where there is a reasonable belief that an offence is being committed. Otherwise, employers may find themselves on the wrong side of another lawsuit....[read more]
Employment claims have expanded
Workplace disputes are no longer “garden variety.” Enter creative employee-side lawyers and their clients’ willingness to challenge their ex-employers in court and demanding more severance pay is only one of the employee’s options. But the facts have not changed; rather the courts’ ability to remedy alleged wrongs has expanded. ...[read more]
Failure to Mitigate defeats employee’s winning claim
How do you beat your ex-employer in court but ultimately collect little or no damages? Just ask Leo Magnan. He succeeded in proving that he was wrongfully dismissed but failed to collect the true value of his claim. His mistake: Magnan couldn’t demonstrate that his dismissal caused him a financial loss. ...[read more]
Harassed employees are no longer without remedy
Workplace abuse may have been obvious, but rarely did it amount to a paid vacation. Employees faced with a workplace abuser used to visit their doctor for a prescription or a note authorizing a leave of absence. Except in extraordinary cases, employees were bereft of a legal remedy, as courts had little appetite for walking into the workplace and ordering bosses to be nicer to their employees. The reality for most: either leave - or lose - your job. ...[read more]
Harassment doesn't belong at work
Every employer in Ontario has a legal obligation to provide a workplace free from harassment. This obligation extends to protecting you from harassing acts committed by other employees, management personnel, agents of the company, and clients or customers. Many times, both employees and employers are not clear about what their obligations are and what harassment in employment actually means. Furthermore, many people who have been subjected to harassing behaviour are not aware of what they can do to remedy the situation....[read more]
Is your Boss a Bully?
Employees faced with an abusive or harassing boss used to visit their doctors for a prescription or a note for a leave of absence. Now, armed with the knowledge that they can sue for significant damages, traumatized employees call their lawyers too. Recently, three separate court decisions reinforced the message that employees can sue for abusive, humiliating and harassing behaviour suffered at the hands of their bosses. ...[read more]
Job posting was unreasonable step, court rules
Believing that the posting of his job in the local news made it impossible for him to continue with his work, Patterson sued the company, arguing that the posting should be equated with his dismissal. Interestingly, an Ontario judge recently agreed....[read more]
Mental distress from work is not always compensable
Having just been denied a promotion at work, Maria Amaral was crestfallen. As an employee of the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency for 23 years, Amaral thought that she should have been promoted to manager. But her boss, Caroline Rioux, thought otherwise. Shortly after the failed promotion attempt, Amaral refused to write a letter when Rioux directed her to. She was disciplined. Dejected, she let her attendance and performance dwindle. Rioux continued to warn Amaral, and eventually the agency relieved her of some of her duties. But Amaral’s absenteeism and performance worsened. The agency placed Amaral on probation and planned for her eventual dismissal....[read more]
No age limit on employees
Canadian workplaces have adapted to the ban on mandatory retirement. Many have found ways to subvert the legislation by creatively finding ways to transition older employees into retirement....[read more]
No such thing as a "free" consultation
People often get exactly what they pay for. This is as true in law as it is in life. Here is one story that should make employees pause when they are offered a "free" consultation with a lawyer.
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Signed documents will seldom be overturned
This is the cautionary tale of two cases that together reveal the fate of employees too quick to sign their names. Just-fired, after 15 years as a sales manager for Pennzoil-Quaker State Canada, Patrick Barr found himself in a pickle. Presented with an offer of severance, Barr was given two weeks to decide his fate: sign his name on the documents, thus accepting the company’s offer, or receive nothing more. ...[read more]
Silence may not always be golden
At the age of 66, Kathleen Fisher found herself in a pickle. Believing she was being forced to retire, she turned to her company president, Keith Andersen, looking for answers. Anderson may not have agreed – but he offered no solution. As a B.C. appeal court recently concluded in finding Fisher was dismissed: his silence spoke volumes....[read more]
Suspensions Should be with Pay
FRI Corp wanted to teach marketing executive Christina Carscallen a lessen. But as FRI Corp learned, some lessons come with a very steep price. Angered by a botched trade show and a heated email exchange with her boss, FRI Corp chose to suspend Carscallen without pay. However, FRI Corp didn’t stop there. Carscallen was demoted, her flex hours withdrawn and just to rub a little salt in the wound, she was told she would have to share a cubicle with a subordinate. ...[read more]
There is more to a case than just the facts
Generally, employers are in no hurry to move cases along quickly. They would much prefer to wait and let the employee’s legal costs accumulate and her frustrations grow. In typical cases, claims can meander through the court system for years, with inherent pre-trial delays, mandatory mediations and few, if any, deadlines. Few unemployed can afford to wait for a trial. Fewer can afford to pay for one....[read more]
Think long and hard before you resign
When all else fails, it may be time to resign. But before you take that step, make sure you know exactly what you are walking away from. Recently I was retained by Shauna, who is a business development advisor for a mutual fund company. Almost positive that a pink slip was coming her way, Shauna was inclined to resign before the company could terminate her. By doing so, she thought she could save face. However, when it came to walking away from her job with her self-esteem intact, Shauna was forgetting that she would also likely be walking away from a severance package. ...[read more]
Warning signs will be clear - Job postings may be logical steps
Employers are becoming increasingly adept at covering their bases when dismissing employees. But with no legal entitlement to continued employment, no one is indispensable. Canadian employees may have little certainty these days – and less job security. Here are some signs that you are about to be fired that I have gleaned from my clients in the workplace trenches....[read more]
With appropriate notice, anything goes
Having the terms of your job forcibly changed is usually taboo. But the tables are turned when advance warning is provided. Most employees believe that their jobs can seldom be varied without their consent. As an Ontario judge recently confirmed, those employees are mistaken. ...[read more]
Workplace Changes
This is the cautionary tale of two employees who incorrectly assumed their employers had no right to change the terms of their jobs.
Experiencing an enrolment crisis, Acadia University decided that it had no other choice but to remove oversight of enrolment and admissions from Paula Cook Mackinnon's job. Mackinnon, who had been employed by the university in a senior role for 19 years, disagreed....[read more]
Worse job may be case of constructive dismissal
Are you doing the job you were hired to do? Or are you doing something completely different? Have the terms of your employment agreement been changed without your permission?If so, you may have been “constructively dismissed,” whether you realize it or not. And you may be entitled to damages. Constructive dismissal occurs where your employer unilaterally implements a fundamental change to the essential terms of your job. When this happens, the job you are performing is significantly different than before, and your employer may therefore be deemed to have dismissed you....[read more]