Discipline and Dismissals - Articles & Videos

There are circumstances in which a former employee’s physical or mental condition will be made directly relevant to the action based on the allegations in their wrongful dismissal claim.

In the context of the sale of a business, an employee’s duty to mitigate might require them to accept the same job with the purchaser, even though the vendor-employer technically triggered a termination.

While dismissals are virtually never mutual, using an exit package allows the employer and the employee to part ways amicably and mutually.

In a recent decision, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a 2023 decision of the Superior Court of Justice which found that an employment relationship had become frustrated as a result of an employee’s refusal to comply with a mandatory vaccination policy.

With regards to company cars, a good contract would clearly set out each parties’ respective rights and obligations in relation to the car, and what happens once the employment relationship ends.

In wrongful dismissal lawsuits, the former employee’s medical condition can sometimes become an issue for the Court to consider. To what extent can the employer test this medical condition through a Court-ordered independent medical examination of the employee?

The answer is not the same in every circumstance; however, in two recent cases, it was found that an employee on temporary layoff had not resigned by accepting new employment elsewhere.

A recent decision from British Columbia reminds us that even the most bulletproof termination clauses can be rendered unenforceable when the termination is implemented wrongly.

For some time now, it has been clear that Ontario courts are taking a no-nonsense approach to the interpretation of termination clauses.