Cause for Dismissal

When an employee’s actions or cumulative behaviour becomes intolerable, an employer has the right to dismiss the employee, without notice or pay, as the employer is said to have cause for dismissal. As cause for dismissal is viewed as the capital punishment of employment law, only the most serious forms of misconduct will meet the test. As well, employers have an obligation to consider an employee’s entire employment history and any mitigating factors in assessing whether cause for dismissal is a proportional response to misconduct.

The seminal Canadian definition of cause for dismissal comes from an Ontario Court of Appeal decision in the case of Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co. v. Arthurs. In this case the court stated:

If an employee has been guilty of serious misconduct, habitual neglect of duty, incompetence or conduct incompatible with his duties, or prejudicial to the employers business, or if he has been guilty of wilful disobedience to the employers orders in a matter of substance, the law recognizes the employers right summarily to dismiss the delinquent employee.

As cause for dismissal is typically quite difficult for an employer to demonstrate, many employees who have been dismissed on these grounds challenge their ex-employers in court. If successful, they will be awarded the severance pay that they would have received had they been terminated without cause and potentially additional damages for mental distress if the allegations of cause were clearly without merit.

If you have been dismissed for cause or if you have been dismissed and you have not received any severance pay, you should immediately contact an employment lawyer to assist you in deciding what steps to take to enforce your rights.

Read our employment law articles about cause for dismissal for more information.