Employee’s refusal to report to work unreasonable – according to judge

Posted in: Cause for Dismissal, Mitigation

Your job has been eliminated – but get back to work! After 18 years at a Downtown Toyota dealership in Toronto, Aleem Ghanny was told that his position as a service manager would suddenly end. However, there was one catch: Ghanny was told his job would be relocated to another related dealership only a few blocks away where he could continue working at the same rate of pay.

The sticking point for Ghanny was that he did not trust the owner. By transferring, he believed that his years of service would no longer be recognized and he was worried that the new dealership would also soon close. Believing that he was legally entitled to reject the transfer based on his two concerns and instead sue for wrongful dismissal because his original job disappeared, Ghanny refused to report for work and began to look for another job.

My lawsuit settlement is hampering my job search

Posted in: Mitigation

Two and a half years ago, I filed a complaint to my employer which ultimately led to my dismissal. I sought legal counsel, filed a lawsuit and the employer and I settled out of court some months later. However, I had to sign a confidentiality agreement. The termination and legal proceedings wreaked havoc on me emotionally, physically and mentally. After more than a year of therapy for depression, I have emerged with confidence and I’m eager to return to work.

My question is, how do I explain my termination, the issue of a job reference, and the two-year time frame I have been unemployed? I am not at liberty to divulge any details due to the confidentiality agreement and, compounding things further, I was with my last employer for more than 10 years, so a job reference by a direct supervisor is impossible.

Worse job may be case of constructive dismissal

Posted in: Constructive Dismissal, Damages for Bad Faith, Mental Distress and Personal Injury, Employment Contracts, Mitigation, Wrongful 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.

Workplace misconduct

Posted in: Cause for Dismissal, Damages for Bad Faith, Mental Distress and Personal Injury, Mitigation

Canadian employers continue to allege cause for dismissal based on any perceived wrong. Although, in cases of serious misconduct such as theft or fraud, they are justified, in most cases they are not. Judges continue to require employers to show that they investigated misconduct, considered any mitigating circumstances and first offered coaching to any employee they wish to fire without notice. Ultimately the punishment must fit the crime.

The duty to mitigate: working for my former boss!

Posted in: Mitigation, Reasonable Notice, Resignation, Severance Packages, Wrongful Dismissal

Until recently, it was generally proper for an employee to reject returning to the workplace that fired him. However, that all changed when the Supreme Court found that unless there are conditions such as humiliation, embarrassment or hostility, employees would be expected to return to their jobs.

Sure-fire ways to receive appropriate severance

Posted in: Mitigation, Severance Packages, Wrongful Dismissal

With unemployment rates at a generational high, many employees are asking “how do you win an employment law case?” Here are four tips for the recently departed. If nothing else, following my advice ought to ensure an appropriate severance package, if not more.

Supreme Court orders fired employee to return to old job

Posted in: Mitigation

We have decided to fire you. Now go back to your desk and finish your work! After a bitterly fought election of a new union executive whose candidacy he had opposed, Teamsters business agent Donald Evans saw the writing on the wall. When the new union president took over, Evans and five other employees lost their jobs.

No more bad faith? SCC ruling catastrophic for employees

Posted in: Damages for Bad Faith, Mental Distress and Personal Injury, Employment Contracts, Mitigation, Wrongful Dismissal

It is one of the most important concepts in workplace law – or at least it was. Since 1997, When the Supreme Court presented Canadian workplaces with the Wallace decision, employers have had an obligation to play nice and behave well at the time of dismissal, or face paying additional ‘bad faith’ damages to a former employee. But following the Court’s most recent landmark decision, employers now go from strength to strength.

Employment contracts

Posted in: Employment Contracts, Mitigation, Wrongful Dismissal

On Krzysztof Rejdak’s first day of work, he found himself in a pickle. He was given an employment contract with a three-month probationary term and asked to sign his name. For Rejdak, who had already resigned from his previous long-term job, his options were grim: he could either sign his name and agree to be a probationary employee or he could refuse and potentially be unemployed. Fortunately for Rejdak, he later learned in court that not all signed agreements will ultimately be enforced.

Diligent job search can save your case

Posted in: Mitigation, Resignation, Wrongful Dismissal

Succeeding with your termination case takes more than an excellent set of facts, a great lawyer and a little bit of luck on your side. Many good cases go awry because a dismissed employee does not look for another job. The law refers to this principle as mitigation and it requires a dismissed employee to make a diligent search for another similar job. If you do not, the damages you can claim may be substantially reduced. Therefore, I offer the following recommendations for employees to help build their case