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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

Workplace investigation alert: BC case shows how employers should NOT handle workplace harassment

Special note to BC readers: If this subject is of interest to you, you may wish attend one of our related workshops in BC. Some spots are still open for the following sessions – we recommend registering soon. We hope to see you there. Bystander Intervention Training – May 23, 2018 Learn how to enable &

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When working notice of termination does not work

Faced with the prospect of significant severance obligations, an employer may choose to give an employee working notice of termination to reduce their monetary liability. Given that the implied contractual requirement at common law is to provide “reasonable notice of termination” (as compared to payment in lieu of notice), an employer is typically entitled to

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One cannot both breach and benefit – employer precluded from relying on termination clause it breached

Employers are often advised to act cautiously when dismissing employees, particularly when those employees are subject to enforceable termination provisions.  Hasty decisions to terminate based on unfounded allegations of “just cause”, or careless applications of “without cause” termination provisions, may result in unintended consequences.  Specifically, employers may find themselves: exposed to liability for bad faith,

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Particular problems with making bald allegations against dismissed employees

As justification for offering reduced termination packages to departing employees, employers often make bald and generalized allegations of misconduct and/or substandard performance. Although this aggressive approach sometimes has its advantages during the preliminary phases of negotiating a termination package, employers may face unintended consequences if the matter subsequently becomes litigious. The Supreme Court of Canada

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Court of Appeal affirms chaos in the realm of termination clauses

In December, 2015, I wrote a blog on the 2015 Ontario Superior Court (the “ONSC”) decision in Oudin v. Le Centre Francophone de Toronto (“Oudin”). The decision was of particular interest because the court found that a termination provision effectively displaced the common law presumption of an employee’s entitlement to reasonable notice of termination despite:

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The truth about defamation in workplace terminations

There are a number of “piggyback” claims that we see as part of wrongful dismissal claims against our employer clients – intentional infliction of mental distress; discrimination contrary to human rights legislation etc. Amongst these “piggyback” claims is defamation. An employee may claim that the employer (through one or more of its employees) has made

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#1 Termination pay, termination notice, termination with or without cause and pay in lieu of notice (Part 3)

Third and final installment on this first point. To recap, in Part 1 of this series, we discussed whether an employer has cause to terminate employment without notice. Assuming the employer did not have cause to terminate employment we discussed termination provisions in employment contracts in Part 2 of the series. This third post will

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The problem with knee-jerk reactions: A call for consideration before termination

Scientifically known as the patellar reflex, a “knee-jerk reflex” is described by Encyclopaedia Britannica as the “sudden kicking movement of the lower leg in response to a sharp tap on the patellar tendon, which lies just below the kneecap.”  In common language, we refer to knee jerk reactions as “reacting quickly and without thought.” I

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