In Chambers v Global Traffic Technologies Canada Inc ( 20168 ONSC 2000) Glustein J. found that reasonable notice for a 57 year old General Manager making $208,000 who had 2 years + 6 months service was 9 months.
Some of the cases submitted by the employer consisted of finding of reasonable notice as an alternative finding, in that the judge found that there was cause or an enforceable contract. The judge rejected the argument of plaintiff’s counsel that these cases should be ignored or discounted.
Regarding the bonus issue the Judge commented ” Bonuses which were earned during the period prior to termination or would have been earned in the reasonable notice period are payable upon termination, even if payment of the bonus would have been outside the notice period”
Of note is that the judge distinguished, properly in my opinion, between earning a bonus and when a bonus is payable. The argument is that once a bonus is earned it becomes a wage under the ESA and thus can never be forfeited, no matter what the contractual language says. The analogy is that if you had a salary of $500/ week and were paid on the 1st and 15th of the month, but were terminated with just cause ( or quit) on the 14th, could an employer deny you your wages that you earned from the 1st to the 14th because your employment contract said that you had to be in the employment of the employer on the payday to be paid your wages?
Of course the answer would be NO.
Spoiler Alert: Counsel for the plaintiff was my eldest son , Matthew Fisher.