In Milwid v. IBM Canada Ltd., 2023 ONCA 702 the Court upheld this notice period above the usual cap of 24 months as they found that the following were exceptional circumstances .
[5] In this case – similar to the situation in Currie – the evidence established that the respondent’s skills were not transferrable because they related, almost exclusively, to the appellant’s products. This is an exceptional circumstance not covered by the Bardal factors, which could warrant a notice period exceeding 24 months. Therefore, we see no error in the motion judge’s decision to fix reasonable notice at 26 months.
[6] The appellant also submits that the motion judge erred in finding that an additional month of notice, bringing the total to 27 months’ notice, was appropriate to reflect the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding is entitled to deference by this court and was well supported by the evidence in this case. The pandemic was a truly exceptional circumstance, and the respondent lost his position right at the time the global economy was shutting down. There is no basis to interfere with the motion judge’s decision in this regard.
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