Gordon v Altus Group ( 2015 ONSC 5663 ) the Court awarded punitive damages against an employer whose conduct was ” “outrageous’ and “mean and cheap”. The allegations of cause were found to have no merit but the Employer’s position the was that even so the termination provisions and the non compete provisions were still in force. The Court agreed with this analysis . However, because the Employer did not pay the severance required in the contract ( 9 months) but insisted on compliance with the non compete, the judge awarded $100K in punitives as ” Now, there is no free lunch in this world and Altus cannot expect to have one.”
The Defendant had also counterclaimed for breach of fiduciary duty and claimed actual damages of 1 million dollars plus punitive damages of $100,000. The Court found that the counterclaim had no merit but interestingly awarded the same quantum of punitive damages against the defendant as the defendant had claimed against the plaintiff . I guess that the judge considered what was good for the goose was good for the gander.
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