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Serious insight for serious situations.

Serious insight for serious situations.

Car company’s classic case of constructive dismissal

For an employee to successfully argue that she has been constructively dismissed is an uphill battle. The onus is on her to show that a fundamental term of the contract of employment has been breached, she has not condoned that breach, and in walking out the door, she has not failed to mitigate her damages.

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“New and improved” approach to summary judgments: The impact on wrongful dismissal litigation

Since I last wrote about the use of summary judgment in wrongful dismissal actions, there have been two significant updates: In January 2014, the Supreme Court revamped the approach to summary judgment motions in Hryniak v. Mauldin; and In the six months since Hryniak, the courts have applied this revamped approach to wrongful dismissal actions,

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A litigation primer for employers: what to expect (and what to do) when you’re expecting a wrongful dismissal claim

Litigation is rarely the preferred option for employers, but when an employer and a former employee cannot agree on the terms of a severance package, litigation may be inevitable. As an employer, what can you expect when you’re expecting a wrongful dismissal claim? Here is a high-level overview of the major steps in wrongful dismissal

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All’s fair in love and employment: Using lessons in love to help terminated employees

As Valentine’s Day approaches, our minds turn to love, romance and, most importantly, chocolate. For some people, Valentine’s Day is not such a happy time, as it reminds them of elusive or unrequited love. For terminated employees, heartbreak arises not from a lost love, but from a lost job. Like the jilted partner in a

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No just cause after employer fails to investigate allegations of anti-Semitic remarks

An employer alleges that an employee made anti-Semitic remarks about the employer’s owners, the employer reacts and terminates the employee for cause, an investigation is not conducted, and the employee is not given an opportunity to respond to the allegations before he is terminated. This was the case in Ludchen v. Stelcrete Industries Ltd., where

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What to do when employees are not flooding to work

The other week, Toronto was hit with a major rainstorm that ground parts of the city to a halt. The effect of the storm was felt particularly by those in the west end of the city whose homes, businesses and streets were flooded by the uncharacteristic amount of rain. Naturally, those affected by the storm

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I’ve been fired, now what?

Whether you’ve been “let go”, “discharged”, “dismissed” or “permanently laid off”, the end result is that you’re facing the uncertainty accompanied with losing one’s job. Given that this is a difficult, and often emotional time for employees, many may not recognize their rights and obligations upon termination. In that regard, the following is a list

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Reading the Rutgers investigation report

When delivering our workplace investigation training, we often discuss the need to assume a wide readership for the investigation reports that we prepare, and to write accordingly. Few of us, however, should expect a readership that the investigators tasked with looking into allegations against the Rutgers men’s basketball coach knew that they would face. Video

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