In Teljeur v Aurora Hotel Group , 2023 ONSC 1324, Justice Mckelvey awarded moral damages of $15,000 to a dismissed GM of a resort for the following reasons:
- They did not pay him his ESA minimums within the 7 days set out in the ESA.
- They promised him 8 weeks severance but then paid only the ESA minimums of 2 weeks.
- The Plaintiff repeatably asked for a termination letter in writing ( as required by the ESA ) but the defendant failed to do so .
- The Defendants acknowledged at the termination meeting that the plaintiff was owed over $16,000 in expenses but failed to pay it, even as of the time of trial. This constituted 23% of the plaintiffs annual income.
In Starling v Independent Living Resource Centre of Calgary, 2023 ABPC 31, Judge Argento of the Provincial Court awarded $2,000 as aggravated damages for the following reasons
• The Defendant terminated the Plaintiff while she was on sick leave and without having received any updated medical evidence indicating she was well enough to return to work.
• The Defendant made no effort to call the Plaintiff to check on her health before it threatened to terminate, and eventually terminated, her employment.
• The Defendant initially told the Plaintiff that she could not come to the office while on sick leave and that she would need medical clearance to return to work. On September 26, the Defendant indicated, for the first time and without warning, that her employment could be terminated.
• On September 26, the Defendant also advised the Plaintiff she would be dismissed for cause if she did not provide further information in two days. The two-day deadline was inadequate given the absence of any prior warning. It was also unreasonable to expect the Plaintiff to be able to obtain updated medical information in that time frame.
• The Defendant advised the Plaintiff she had no sick leave or vacation days left even though Mr. Hagel’s May 3 email stated otherwise. The Defendant did not check its files properly and failed to identify Mr. Hagel’s earlier email before placing the Plaintiff on unpaid, rather than paid, sick leave.
My Comments :
Courts seem to be increasingly willing to punish employers who do not conduct terminations in a sensitive and reasonable manner.
Playing hardball with a Plaintiff at their time of extreme vulnerability can be a costly affair.
For a copy of either of these cases, email me at barry@barryfisher.ca
For my mediation date availability, go to www.barryfisher .ca